A Matter Of Selection

1. Which part (anatomy) or characteristic of the Brassica oleracea plants seems to exhibit the most variation (greatest number of different forms)? Which part or characteristic of the Brassica oleracea plants seems to show the greatest range of variation (biggest difference between one extreme and its opposite)? Use and include data collected from multiple measurements to support your answer.

     When we looked at the Brassica Oleracea we noticed that the anatomy of the plants varied a ton. But all of the leaves seemed to be very different. The biggest difference was the shape of the leaves. Some were round while other plants had a small, sickle-shaped ones.  The plant with the most unique leaves was the kale, which had odd, unnatural edges.  Another thing we noticed was that some of the plants have an almost waxy coating on their leaves. Presumably to repel water.

2. Using the terms that follow, explain why you think there is so much variability in the domestic forms of Brassica oleracea: traits, selective breeding, artificial selection, genes, descent with modification, natural variations, mutations

         I think that there is so much variability because in the beginning, the original plants traits were very different from the traits now. Through descent with modification, they reached a point where their genes were desirable enough for people to try and selectively breed them. This artificial selection, along with natural variations and unnoticeable mutations since then, has caused all of the different types.

3. Which part (anatomy) of the Brassica oleracea plants seems to be most consistently the same in all of the examples in our garden, regardless of how extreme the differences between other parts of the same plants may be? Why do think this is so? Again, use and include data collected from multiple measurements to support your answer.

        One of the things on the plant that has common anatomy is the size of the plants.  Each leaf had a length of about 14--16 inches.  I think they are close in the same size because the plants have a common ancestor with that size of leaves.

4. What would plant breeders have to do in order to get the body part or characteristic you described above (in your response to question #3) to become much different than it is presently?

  The breeder could take gametes from 2 different plants and put the different pollens on each plant and see if any of the plants have a fertile offspring. If one of them has a fertile one, that one will be used to breed with in the future, given its traits are desireable enough