Plants Have Many Genes

Annotation of the first few complete plant genomes has revealed that plants have many genes. For Arabidopsis, over 26,500 gene loci have been predicted, whereas for rice, the number adds up to 41,000. Recent analysis of the poplar genome suggests more than 45,000 genes... 

One explanation for the large increase in gene number during angiosperm evolution is gene duplication. It has been shown previously that the retention of duplicates following small- and large-scale duplication events in plants is substantial. Taking into account the function of genes that have been duplicated, we are now beginning to understand why many plant genes might have been retained, and how their retention might be linked to the typical lifestyle of plants.