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Traces of Early Native Americans--in Sunflower Genes


April 2, 2010

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New information about early Native Americans' horticultural practices comes not from hieroglyphs or other artifacts, but from a suite of four gene duplicates found in wild and domesticated sunflowers. Indiana University-Bloomington scientists learned duplications of the gene flowering locus T, or FT, could have evolved and interacted to prolong a flower's time to grow. A longer flower growth period means a bigger sunflower--presumably an attribute of value to the plant's first breeders.Full Story

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Indiana University

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