Limited accumulation of high-frequency somatic mutations in a 1,700-year-old Osmanthus fragrans tree

Lifespan varies greatly between and within species. Mutation accumulation is considered an important factor explaining this life history trait. However, direct assessment of somatic mutations in long-lived species is still rare. In this study, we sequenced a 1,700-year-old sweet olive tree and analy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTree physiology
Main Authors Duan, Yifan, Yan, Jiping, Zhu, Yue, Zhang, Cheng, Tao, Xiuhua, Ji, Hongli, Zhang, Min, Wang, Xianrong, Wang, Long
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Canada 28.05.2022
Subjects
Somatic mutation
Osmanthus fragrans
Tree evolution
Aging
Clonal variation
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Summary:Lifespan varies greatly between and within species. Mutation accumulation is considered an important factor explaining this life history trait. However, direct assessment of somatic mutations in long-lived species is still rare. In this study, we sequenced a 1,700-year-old sweet olive tree and analyzed the high-frequency somatic mutations accumulated in its six primary branches. We found the lowest per-year mutation accumulation rate in this oldest tree among those studied via the whole-genome sequencing (WGS) approach. Investigation of mutation profiles suggests that this low rate of high-frequency mutation was unlikely to be an outcome of strong purifying selection. More intriguingly, on a per-branching scale, the high-frequency mutation accumulation rate was similar among the long-lived individuals such as oak, wild peach and sweet olive investigated here. We therefore suggested the possibility that the accumulation of high-frequency somatic mutations in very long-lived trees might have an upper boundary, due to both the possible limited number of stem cell divisions and the early segregation of the stem cell lineage.
ISSN:1758-4469