2. How many genes does rice have in its genome? Does it seem that there is a relationship between
the complexity of an organism and the number of genes in its genome? Use the following
table to briefly explain your answer.
Some Important Sequenced Genomes*
Year
Size of genome
Approximate
number
Organism
completed (in base pairs)
of genes
Haemophilus influenzae (bacterium)
1995
1.8 million
1,700
Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast)
1996
12 million
6,300
Escherichia coli
1997
4.6 million
4,400
(bacterium)
Caenorhabditis elegans (roundworm)
1998
100 million
20,100
Drosophila melanogaster
2000
165 million
14,000
(fruit fly)
Arabidopsis thaliana (mustard plant)
2000
120 million
25,500
Oryza sativa (rice)
2002
430 million
42,000
Homo sapiens (human)
2003
3.0 billion
21,000
Rattus norvegicus
2004
2.8 billion
20,000
(lab rat)
Pan troglodytes
2005
3.1 billion
20,000
(chimpanzee)
Macaca mulatta (macaque)
2007
2.9 billion
22,000
Ornithorhynchus anatinus
2008
1.8 billion
18,500
(duck-billed platypus)
Prunus persica (peach)
2013
227 million
27,900
*Some of the values listed are likely to be revised as genome analysis continues