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科学美国人60秒 SSS 细菌帮助植物进化到陆地上生存

时间:2020-12-08 05:06:09

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(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Annie Sneed.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列,我是安妮·斯尼德。

The first plants to come up with ways to live on land accomplished1 that feat2 some 580 million years ago. But how did they make the jump from water to terra firma? Looks like they might have had help—from bacteria.

首批在陆地上生活的植物,大约在5.8亿年前完成了这一壮举。但它们是如何从水中跳到陆地上的?也许它们是得到了细菌的帮助。

To better understand the evolution of land plants, researchers looked at the DNA3 of two species of algae4. Why algae? Well, because land plants evolved from this green goo. For their study, the team focused on a group of algae known to be the closest living relatives of land plants. The scientists compared the genomes of the two algae species to both land plants and other types of algae. The goal: to locate any important genetic6 similarities.

为了更好地了解陆地植物的进化,研究人员观察了两种藻类的DNA。为什么是藻类?因为陆地植物由这种绿色粘性物质进化而来。在研究中,团队将重点放在一组已知的陆地植物近亲藻类上。科学家将这两种藻类的基因组与陆地植物和其它藻类的基因组进行了比较。目标是:找出基因的任何重要相似性。

And the researchers actually discovered some significant matches between both of the two algae species and land plants—for example, a gene5 family called GRAS.

研究人员确实发现了这两种藻类和陆地植物之间的一些重大匹配点,比如,名为GRAS的基因家族。

"And we were curious where that particular family came from, because it had already been studied before and was known to be important in handling desiccation, or dry conditions."

“我们很好奇这个特殊家族来自哪里,因为人们以前研究过,知道它在处理干旱方面非常重要。”

Gane Wong, a professor in biological sciences at the University of Alberta, one of the study leaders.

阿尔伯塔大学的生物科学教授Gane Wong说到,他也是该研究的负责人之一。

"So when we looked across, we searched for similar genes7 in all species—every known species that's ever been sequenced. And the only place that they were found, beyond algae and land plants, were bacteria—and in particular, soil bacteria. So that's one of the key points to suggest that it was transferred from bacteria."

“因此我们在研究时,是在所有物种中寻找相似的基因,对每一个已知物种都进行了测序。除了藻类和陆地植物之外,我们只在细菌中发出了类似基因,尤其是土壤细菌。所以这是证明该基因是从细菌转移过来的关键点之一。”

The study was published in the journal Cell.

这项研究发表在《细胞》期刊上。

The thinking is that hundreds of millions of years ago, certain algae lived in freshwater that occasionally dried up. The algae then found a new home in the mud, which was also home to soil bacteria. And some of the bacterial8 DNA found its way into the algae, where it took up residence in the algal genome. In this way, the transfer of genes like GRAS, which helps in handling dry conditions, probably played a critical role in allowing plants to survive on land.

这种想法认为,数亿年前,某些藻类生活在偶尔干涸的淡水中。它在泥巴中找到了新家,而这也是土壤细菌的家。某些细菌的DNA进入了藻类,并在藻类基因组中“寄居”。通过这种方式,像GRAS等有助于处理干旱的基因的转移,可能对植物在陆地上生存发挥了关键作用。

So unless the only plants you eat are seaweed, thank some bacteria for providing plants with a foothold on the earth.

因此,除非蔬菜你只吃海藻,否则你就要感谢细菌为植物提供了在地球上的立足点。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Annie Sneed.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是安妮·斯尼德。


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 accomplished UzwztZ     
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的
参考例句:
  • Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
  • Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。
2 feat 5kzxp     
n.功绩;武艺,技艺;adj.灵巧的,漂亮的,合适的
参考例句:
  • Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
  • He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。
3 DNA 4u3z1l     
(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸
参考例句:
  • DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
  • Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。
4 algae tK6yW     
n.水藻,海藻
参考例句:
  • Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
  • Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。
5 gene WgKxx     
n.遗传因子,基因
参考例句:
  • A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
  • The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
6 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
7 genes 01914f8eac35d7e14afa065217edd8c0     
n.基因( gene的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因,所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
8 bacterial dy5z8q     
a.细菌的
参考例句:
  • Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间,细菌繁殖加快了。
  • Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

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