ABOVE: Plant cells form a graft union between cells. Plastids are labeled red throughout the graft and nuclei and cytosol are labeled in blue on one side of the graft (bottom). Plastid genome exchange is indicated by arrowheads.
HERTLE ET AL., SCIENCE ADVANCES, 2021
Past genetic experiments have shown that, when plants are grafted together, entire genomes can move between the host and the graft, but it was not clear how the genetic material was traveling. In a study published January 1 in Science Advances, researchers demonstrated that entire organelles can move between plant cells, bringing their genomes along for the ride.
In the studies before this one, “there was no way to rationally explain how a whole genome got over, other than it went into an organelle. Otherwise, you would have seen genetic recombination between an incoming genome and the resident genome,” says Pal Maliga, a plant biologist at Rutgers ...
