5 ms·

Modern Peanut's Wild Cousin, Thought Extinct, Found in Andes

99 points by diodorus 11y ago

im_down_w_otp 11y ago
This absolutely requires a cartoon featuring Mr. Peanut, in all his top-hat and monocle glory leading an expedition into the Andes and discovering his long lost cousin who left home forever ago as an act of defiance as an adolescent.
- ArkyBeagle 11y ago
  That would require a musical number, with at least a ... division of Cub Scouts singing "Found A Peanut."
wittekm 11y ago
The article says that the modern peanut has 20 chromosomes, whereas its ancestors each had 10. At least in animal hybridization, the hybrid chromosome amount lies between that of the two parents. So what's up with that? Wikipedia mentions "doubling."
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
  At a guess, peanut is probably tetraploid, with four copies of each gene instead of two. (Polyploidy is common in plants)
  - cgriswald 11y ago
    > (Polyploidy is common in plants) Especially crops.
- gus_massa 11y ago
  It's very usual in plants to have a weird number of copies of the chromosomes. I remember a very detailed submission from a few years ago, but I can't find it. I think that the relevant Wikipedia page is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Plants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Plants and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Allopolyploidy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Allopolyploidy .
- pluteoid 11y ago
  As others observed this is a common condition in plants (where repeated hybridizations can result in even higher ploidy conditions, e.g. tetraploid wheat, sexaploid sedums). But as you ask, why isn't it observed as often in animals, or indeed at all in mammals? One argument is that plants generally feature fewer tissue types, and their anatomy shows less interdependency of parts: they have a body plan of repeated units showing some redundancy. (Cutting off a branch is not like cutting off a leg.) In other words, by many metrics of organismal complexity, plants are less complex than animals, such that their developmental programmes can "tolerate" relatively major disruptions to genomic organization. There are some insights in this paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15780745 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15780745
JacobAldridge 11y ago
Related, something I learned last week when I hosted a beer-tasting baby shower for a mate. The difference between an Ale and a Lager comes from the different yeast used in each type (the Lager yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus will ferment at lower temperatures - so if you were also once taught that 'temperature' was the difference between the two, you were mostly correct). But while Ales have a long history over thousands of years, Lagers only appeared in human history in the 1500s. Why was this? Turns out the Lager yeast, like the peanut, is a cross. In Lager's case, its genomes are a cross between the Ale yeast S. cerevisiae and a South American yeast S. eubayanus. Exploration of the Americas somehow tracked S. eubayanus back to Europe (most notably, Pilzn Czech Republic) where it interbred and was 'discovered'. I don't actually like peanuts, but I do prefer a Lager over an Ale. [1] More info http://www.popsci.com.au/science/beersci-what-is-the-difference-between-a-lager-and-an-ale,378928 http://www.popsci.com.au/science/beersci-what-is-the-differe...
- nuxi 11y ago
  I prefer Ales, but there's another "variety" I'm very fond of - Belgian Lambic beers[0]. They're brewed using wild yeasts instead of the brewer's, and have a really special (sour) taste. Try the unblended ones if you get the chance, otherwise a Gueuze or a Kriek will do (avoid the fruit ones though). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic
  - JacobAldridge 11y ago
    While I wouldn't say I'm fond of them, Lambics are definitely an excellent beer to explore and a must for any beer lover. I had a long weekend in Belgium a few years ago, which included many, many beer tastings. My beautiful wife and I had other clear favourites, but the Lambic brewery we stumbled upon in Brussels is the one we talk about the most. [Edit] This is the one we visited - http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_1 http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_1 From memory I enjoyed the Faro most - you could only drink it on site, because the sugar content was so high it was liable to explode if transported roughly.
  - beardicus 11y ago
nsxwolf 11y ago
Is it tasty? I want to eat this peanut.
- xufi 11y ago
  It would be also intersting to see if its saltier than a regular peanut. THough granted I guess it depends where the peanut/peanut clone was grown.
exabrial 11y ago
K... The only thing I want to know is do they taste good? Haha no where is that mentioned in the article!!
mvanvoorden 11y ago
Wow, this kind of writing appears even in scientific journals: "Stampfer’s work found that people who ate peanuts and nuts regularly were less likely to die from any cause" So nuts prevent death?
- hexscrews 11y ago
  Perhaps Death has a nut allergy?
- paulpauper 11y ago
  arxiv makes it virtually impossible to publish unaffiliated but stuff like this makes it on a supposedly reputable website

99 points by diodorus 11y ago

This absolutely requires a cartoon featuring Mr. Peanut, in all his top-hat and monocle glory leading an expedition into the Andes and discovering his long lost cousin who left home forever ago as an act of defiance as an adolescent.

ArkyBeagle 11y ago
That would require a musical number, with at least a ... division of Cub Scouts singing "Found A Peanut."

wittekm 11y ago

The article says that the modern peanut has 20 chromosomes, whereas its ancestors each had 10. At least in animal hybridization, the hybrid chromosome amount lies between that of the two parents. So what's up with that? Wikipedia mentions "doubling."

GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
At a guess, peanut is probably tetraploid, with four copies of each gene instead of two. (Polyploidy is common in plants)
- cgriswald 11y ago
  > (Polyploidy is common in plants) Especially crops.
gus_massa 11y ago
It's very usual in plants to have a weird number of copies of the chromosomes. I remember a very detailed submission from a few years ago, but I can't find it. I think that the relevant Wikipedia page is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Plants https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Plants and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Allopolyploidy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyploid#Allopolyploidy .
pluteoid 11y ago
As others observed this is a common condition in plants (where repeated hybridizations can result in even higher ploidy conditions, e.g. tetraploid wheat, sexaploid sedums). But as you ask, why isn't it observed as often in animals, or indeed at all in mammals? One argument is that plants generally feature fewer tissue types, and their anatomy shows less interdependency of parts: they have a body plan of repeated units showing some redundancy. (Cutting off a branch is not like cutting off a leg.) In other words, by many metrics of organismal complexity, plants are less complex than animals, such that their developmental programmes can "tolerate" relatively major disruptions to genomic organization. There are some insights in this paper: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15780745 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15780745

JacobAldridge 11y ago

Related, something I learned last week when I hosted a beer-tasting baby shower for a mate. The difference between an Ale and a Lager comes from the different yeast used in each type (the Lager yeast Saccharomyces pastorianus will ferment at lower temperatures - so if you were also once taught that 'temperature' was the difference between the two, you were mostly correct). But while Ales have a long history over thousands of years, Lagers only appeared in human history in the 1500s. Why was this? Turns out the Lager yeast, like the peanut, is a cross. In Lager's case, its genomes are a cross between the Ale yeast S. cerevisiae and a South American yeast S. eubayanus. Exploration of the Americas somehow tracked S. eubayanus back to Europe (most notably, Pilzn Czech Republic) where it interbred and was 'discovered'. I don't actually like peanuts, but I do prefer a Lager over an Ale. [1] More info http://www.popsci.com.au/science/beersci-what-is-the-difference-between-a-lager-and-an-ale,378928 http://www.popsci.com.au/science/beersci-what-is-the-differe...

nuxi 11y ago
I prefer Ales, but there's another "variety" I'm very fond of - Belgian Lambic beers[0]. They're brewed using wild yeasts instead of the brewer's, and have a really special (sour) taste. Try the unblended ones if you get the chance, otherwise a Gueuze or a Kriek will do (avoid the fruit ones though). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambic
- JacobAldridge 11y ago
  While I wouldn't say I'm fond of them, Lambics are definitely an excellent beer to explore and a must for any beer lover. I had a long weekend in Belgium a few years ago, which included many, many beer tastings. My beautiful wife and I had other clear favourites, but the Lambic brewery we stumbled upon in Brussels is the one we talk about the most. [Edit] This is the one we visited - http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_1 http://www.cantillon.be/br/3_1 From memory I enjoyed the Faro most - you could only drink it on site, because the sugar content was so high it was liable to explode if transported roughly.
- beardicus 11y ago

nsxwolf 11y ago

Is it tasty? I want to eat this peanut.

xufi 11y ago
It would be also intersting to see if its saltier than a regular peanut. THough granted I guess it depends where the peanut/peanut clone was grown.

exabrial 11y ago

K... The only thing I want to know is do they taste good? Haha no where is that mentioned in the article!!

mvanvoorden 11y ago

Wow, this kind of writing appears even in scientific journals: "Stampfer’s work found that people who ate peanuts and nuts regularly were less likely to die from any cause" So nuts prevent death?

hexscrews 11y ago
Perhaps Death has a nut allergy?
paulpauper 11y ago
arxiv makes it virtually impossible to publish unaffiliated but stuff like this makes it on a supposedly reputable website