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A team of 21 Portuguese and one Spanish scientist managed to sequence part of the cork oak genome, the national tree of Portugal and a symbol of the landscape in Southwest Europe, so that it is possible to better understand the genes that make up this tree. The HL8 cork oak in Montargil was chosen and used to decode part of the DNA of this tree.
The study, which began in late 2013, was published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Scientific Data and will serve as a basis for future genetic research on this tree. “This first version of the cork oak genome sequence will be a very useful resource for the entire cork oak and cork sector, from production to scientific research,” says researcher Marcos Ramos, 44. “In principle, it will accelerate the pace of development of new solutions for various problems that affect the sector, such as the quality of cork and the mortality of cork oak trees that is observed in some regions of the country”.