Groundbreaking research on the Great Basin bristlecone pine genome
The Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, with funding from the Vaughn Jordon Foundation, facilitated groundbreaking research on the Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) genome. Scientists, led by former WPEF Board Chair Dr. David Neale, professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, in collaboration with scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the USDA Forest Service, sequenced the Great Basin bristlecone pine genome in an effort to understand the species’ extraordinary longevity and its remarkable adaptations and its harsh environments.
Great Basin bristlecone pine is a 5-needle pine endemic to the high mountains of the Great Basin in eastern California, Nevada, and Utah. It grows in isolated patches ranging from 2,040 to 3,600 meters in elevation, with many populations forming the upper treeline. Beyond its striking appearance and ability to thrive in harsh environmental conditions, Great Basin bristlecone pine is known for its extreme longevity and is the world’s longest-lived non-clonal organism.
This research, recently published in the journal G3: Genes | Genomics | Genetics, selected a 2,500-year-old bristlecone pine tree from the Inyo National Forest (Bishop, CA) to generate a reference genome sequence. Scientists collected needle and seed samples for genetic sequencing, assembling a 24-billion base pair genome — eight times the size of the human genome. The research identified 21,364 protein-coding genes, including genes associated with disease resistance and longer than average telomere lengths for a conifer, which have been suggested to extend cell life and slow aging. However, researchers did not find strong evidence to support the involvement of long telomeres in extending longevity in this case.
This reference genome sequence will serve as an important resource for identifying additional genetic mechanisms underlying Great Basin bristlecone pine’s longevity, while also potentially illuminating the genes that allow it to survive in some of the highest, coldest, and harshest environments in the Great Basin mountains, deepening our understanding of the complex interactions between genetics and environment in the world’s oldest living organism.
When asked if these findings could apply to other species, Neale responded, “People ask me those kinds of things: ‘David, tell me which is the longevity gene, and I will clone it, patent it and sell it.’ Of course, it’s massively complex. But there could be some fundamental discovery of the genetic basis of longevity in this one organism that could be applied to other organisms.”
The study’s co-authors include Aleksey Zimin, Jessica Hosea, Edward Li, and Daniela Puiu of Johns Hopkins University, Constance Millar of the USDA Forest Service, and Patrick McGuire of UC Davis. The research was funded by the Vaughn-Jordan Foundation through the Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation, as well as by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.