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Life Sciences Commons

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2005

Biological Sciences

Ecology

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The Large Genome Constraint Hypothesis: Evolution, Ecology And Phenotype, Charles A. Knight, Nicole A. Molinari, Dmitri A. Petrov Jan 2005

The Large Genome Constraint Hypothesis: Evolution, Ecology And Phenotype, Charles A. Knight, Nicole A. Molinari, Dmitri A. Petrov

Biological Sciences

Background and Aims If large genomes are truly saturated with unnecessary ‘junk’ DNA, it would seem natural that there would be costs associated with accumulation and replication of this excess DNA. Here we examine the available evidence to support this hypothesis, which we term the ‘large genome constraint’. We examine the large genome constraint at three scales: evolution, ecology, and the plant phenotype.

Scope In evolution, we tested the hypothesis that plant lineages with large genomes are diversifying more slowly. We found that genera with large genomes are less likely to be highly specious – suggesting a large …