A rare fern species from New Caledonia, Tmesipteris oblanceolata, has set a new record with the largest genome of any living organism on the planet, containing over 50 times more DNA than humans. This discovery dethroned the previous record-holder, the Japanese flowering plant species Paris japonica. The fern’s genome size of 160.45 gigabase pairs is a surprising feat in the scientific community, leading researchers to question the upper limits of biological possibilities. Despite this achievement, having a large genome is usually not an advantage, as it can impact a plant’s growth, photosynthesis efficiency, and ability to adapt to climate change.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-tiny-fern-largest-genome-earth.html