Blog post 8

1.  When I measured the Brassica plant, the anatomy from the other group's plants in was way off comparison.  The biggest difference between the plants were the leafs and the form/shape of them.  Some of the leafs had some kind of coating on them to repel water.  Some of the leafs have little spikes on the rim and some have round like edges.

2. I feel that there is so much variability in the domestic forms of Brassica oleracea for several reasons.  First of all, plants produce specific traits such as the color of their leaves.  These traits are a result of selective breeding.  This is where the offspring of the plant's phenotypes are selected.  This process is known as artificial selection.  It is considered artificial as the process isn't being being done naturally by the plant.  The plant over time will go through mutations which is a sign of change and growth.  Genes and traits are passed down from the parent plant to the offspring because of decent with modification.  Plants adapt to their surroundings and produce different characteristics naturally in nature because of natural variation.

3.  In general, the sizes of the plants seem very consistent.  I think that the plants have the same anatomy structure because they all come down from one ancestor plant that started it all.  Even though the traits changed, there are still some specific genes that were brought down to the present plants today.  I measured the stems of the plants and they were all about the same length, although
 they were off by a couple of centimeters.

4.  Using selective breeding, they would have to cross the Brassica plant with a taller plant to show mutation and evolution like a sunflower plant.  Having a taller plant would allow the plants' traits to change.

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

Blog Post 7

  

     The lab that we did was about dissecting the Brassica flower and naming some of the plant's parts and what they do for the flower.  The dissection was easier then I thought and it was very interesting lab to do.
 
     This image shows of the stem in the microscope.  The stem is where water flows up and down the plant and where the muscle of the structure is.  The stem is more of the body of the plant because it is attached to the petals, stigma, and the roots.

                                                                     

     The top part of the image shows the stigma in the lens of the microscope.  The stigma is the part of the plant that produces the pollen.  

     The bottom part of the image shows the pistil in the microscope.  The pistil is where an ovary is fertilized by pollen which forms a zygote because each egg and pollen grain is a haploid gamete. Once they meet they combine their haploid cells to create a diploid zygote. In many plants, the embryo created by this process of fertilization is surrounded by a fleshy structure that is the ovary itself.

Assignment 7

This image shows the stigma of the Brassica flower we dissected. The stigma is located on the tip of the carpel or multiple fused carpels. This is where the plant's pollen is germinated. The stigma is connected to the reproductive organs (male, female, or male and female).

Under the stigma in the middle (only partially visible) is the stamen. The stamen is the plant's male reproductive organs. In the stamen is the stalk, the filament, and the end of the stalk, the anthers. The stamen helps in fertilizing the plant's pollen. The plant's sperm cells are stored in the stamen.

Shown in the picture is the plant's carpel. The carpel is the plant's female reproductive organs. The ovaries are stored in the carpel. Carpels are sometimes also topped by a stigma. The pollen from other plants sticks onto the stigma. The function of this structure is to transport the unfertilized pollen to the ovary as well as make sure the pollen is compatible with the ovules. The ovary cannot be seen in this picture, but it is connected at the base of the style. This structure is responsible for the production and housing of the ovules, or eggs.

Here is a picture of an ovary in our flower's pistil. Once an ovary is fertilized by pollen it forms a zygote. This is because each egg and pollen grain is a haploid gamete. Once they meet they combine their haploid cells to create a diploid zygote. In many plants, the embryo created by this process of fertilization is surrounded by a fleshy structure that is the ovary itself. This is commonly known as fruit. Fruit acts as a method of transportation for a plant's embryo.

This an image of pollen at 100x. Pollen contains sperm cells which, on reaching another flower's stigma, travels down the style into the ovaries where they can fertilize the female gametes (egg cells). Only one sperm cell can fertilize an egg cell. Once the egg is fertilized it creates a barrier around itself to shut it off from another sperms cells to avoid double fertilization, which could result in excess chromosomes.

Post 6

 To grow in biomass, our plant uses the energy it gained from photosynthesis. By creating ATP and releasing waste, cellular respiration is also an important part of our plants growth. Parent cells in our plant create sister cells by splitting, increasing the biomass of the plant by using mitosis.


Both enzymes that are made by the cell itself are PEPC and RuBisCo. The ribosomes in the cell translate a certain sequence of amino acids from genetic materials to make PEPC and RuBisCo. It then combines with other cofactors such as lipids and other materials found in proteins.

Blog Post 6

1.  Our plant grows in biomass by using photosynthesis to synthesis it's own food by carbon dioxide and water.  Photosynthesis is taken place in the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct.  The ribosomes in the plant's structure creates proteins.  It also uses cellular respiration in it's process of growth by releasing waste and creating it's own energy.  Our plant also has the ability to divide itself by using the process of mitosis.

2.   The cells can make up enzymes by themselves, and they are used to process photosynthesis.  This allows them to turn the sunlight into the energy it needs.   The enzymes allow the plant to produce the ribosomes which create different kinds of proteins by amino acids and RNA.  Once the ribosomes and PEPC are done with this process, they then transformed in the Golgi.

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