万物 How It Works-2023-01 英语版 PDF电子版精读网盘下载

万物 How It Works-2023-01 英语版 PDF电子版精读网盘下载-八点一刻

Scientists have sequenced the oldest plant genome on record, and it comes
from watermelon seeds chomped on by Stone Age sheep herders in the
Sahara. The 6,000-year-old watermelon seeds resurfaced in the
1990s during an archaeological dig of the cave site known as Uan
Muhuggiag, located along a swath of the Sahara that’s now Libya. Due to
the cave’s dry, salty air, the seeds,which may have fallen to the ground
during a meal, were well preserved, enabling scientists from the Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, to sequence their DNA. Examination of the genome
also showed that the seeds were those of a wild watermelon, one of Africa’s
oldest crops, and probably contained a sickeningly bitter pulp. The
discovery is important because it offers information about the
domestication of the watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) that we enjoy today.
It also offers insight into ancient people’s diets and lifestyles.
Researchers also sequenced the genomes of dozens of watermelon
species that are part of Kew Garden’s extensive collections. The scientists
discovered that the herders either intentionally collected or cultivated
this bitter-fleshed watermelon, a finding that’s consistent with teeth
marks found on some of the oldest seeds collected in Sudan.