S.A.M.
09-22-06, 06:07 AM
Seeds which have been stored away since the time of George III have been persuaded into new life.
Scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank, operated by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, have induced seeds from three species to germinate.
They were originally taken on board the Prussian ship Henriette by Jan Teerlink, a merchant bringing silk and tea from Java and China, as the ship stopped off at the Cape of Good Hope on its way back to Europe in 1803.
On the way back the Henriette was captured by the British navy; and Teerlink's possessions, including his notebook, passed to the High Court of Admiralty, and then to the Tower. Why he carried the seeds and why he put them between the pages of his notebook are unknown.
The Cape region is regularly visited by fire, which is a signal to germinate. So scientists mimicked the effects of fire by chipping off the hard coats of some seeds, and bubbling smoke over others.
Even with this detailed preparation, 29 of the 32 species represented declined to germinate.
These are not the oldest seeds ever tempted into life. Four years ago scientists in the US germinated lotus seeds which had been carbon-dated as 500 years old; more recently, an Israeli team claimed to have grown a date palm from a 2,000 year old seed.
When the plants are older, the Kew scientists plan to make genetic and genomic analyses, and compare the old plants with modern-day equivalents, perhaps showing how Cape species have changed and adapted over the last two centuries.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5361396.stm
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Amazing, isn't it? :)
Scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank, operated by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, have induced seeds from three species to germinate.
They were originally taken on board the Prussian ship Henriette by Jan Teerlink, a merchant bringing silk and tea from Java and China, as the ship stopped off at the Cape of Good Hope on its way back to Europe in 1803.
On the way back the Henriette was captured by the British navy; and Teerlink's possessions, including his notebook, passed to the High Court of Admiralty, and then to the Tower. Why he carried the seeds and why he put them between the pages of his notebook are unknown.
The Cape region is regularly visited by fire, which is a signal to germinate. So scientists mimicked the effects of fire by chipping off the hard coats of some seeds, and bubbling smoke over others.
Even with this detailed preparation, 29 of the 32 species represented declined to germinate.
These are not the oldest seeds ever tempted into life. Four years ago scientists in the US germinated lotus seeds which had been carbon-dated as 500 years old; more recently, an Israeli team claimed to have grown a date palm from a 2,000 year old seed.
When the plants are older, the Kew scientists plan to make genetic and genomic analyses, and compare the old plants with modern-day equivalents, perhaps showing how Cape species have changed and adapted over the last two centuries.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5361396.stm
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Amazing, isn't it? :)