2,000-year-old seed grows into 'tree of life' for scientists

By Steve Connor, Science EditorFriday, 13 June 2008 (Courtesy of the Independent)

http://www.independent.co.uk

A 2,000-year-old seed recovered from the ancient Jewish fortress of Masada near the Dead Sea has become the oldest seed in the world to have germinated successfully, scientists said yesterday. The seed, which grew into a date palm plant, was one of three recovered during archaeological excavations in the early 1960s, but it was only planted two years ago as part of an experiment to see if it could germinate and grow after such a long time. Scientists chipped off small fragments from two of the seeds for radiocarbon dating, which showed they were formed between 206BC and AD24, shortly before the Romans laid siege to Masada AD72.The third seed was planted without being damaged and scientists managed to date that seed when they recovered tiny fragments of the shell clinging to the roots of the plant when it was being transplanted to a bigger pot. The date came out as between AD205 and AD392. But when scientists adjusted the age for changes resulting from it having germinated, which resulted in it absorbing "modern" carbon that would have biased the dating technique, they found that it, too, belonged to the period just prior to Masada's siege and destruction."We have successfully germinated an ancient date seed that was some 2,000 years old and is the oldest seed ever grown," said Sarah Sallon of Hadassah Medical Organisation in Jerusalem, who led the research team."The ability of seeds to remain viable over prolonged periods of time is important in preserving plant genetic resources," Dr Sallon and her colleagues said in their study published in the journal Science.

Masada was fortified by King Herod about 2,044 years ago as a refuge and pleasure palace and lies on a flat-topped mountain overlooking the Dead Sea. It became famous for the Roman siege of AD72 which is said to have culminated in a mass suicide by the rebellious Jewish sect who had taken control of the fortress. The date palm seeds recovered from the 1960 excavations had been kept at room temperature for the past 40 years but, for centuries, they had been buried along with the rest of the Masada ruins. "The Dead Sea is the lowest terrestrial point on Earth and it's extremely hot and dry. So one of the things that probably helped to preserve the seed is the extreme dryness and heat of this area," Dr Sallon said. When the seed germinated, the first leaves to sprout had white spots on them because of a lack of chlorophyll, which may have been due to mineral deficiencies immediately after germination. However, at 26 months, the plant showed normal development and a preliminary genetic analysis has revealed it shares about half its DNA with three modern varieties of the date palm from Morocco, Egypt and Iraq.
The oldest seed known to have germinated prior to the Masada date palm was a 1,300-year-old lotus seed. Judean date palms are known as the "tree of life", partly because of their supposed medicinal properties, and once formed thick forests throughout the Jordan River valley. They were highly prized for their fruit. Date palms are either male or female but Dr Sallon said that she will not be able to determine the gender for two more years.. If it bears fruit it will be called "Mrs Methuselah", she said