Blog Post #8 - A Matter Of Selection

          Through the past couple of months of our class growing the Brassica Oleracea plants, there have been many different variations and changes that the plant have gone through. I would have to say that the characteristic that has the most change is the color and shape of our classes leaves of the plants. Common aspects of the Brassica Oleracea online and seeing pictures have been the normal green with white stems but as I have seen from our classes plants is that most of the plants have different colors to the leaves and the stems. As you can see in the first picture below the color of the stem is clearly green but as you look at the second picture the stems look more red/pink. Also, as you can see in the first picture, the leaves look way more smooth and they also look thick. In the second picture, the leaves look to have ridged edges and they look more thin than the other plant in picture one. The length of the leaves is also very different so you may be able to see. In the first picture I measured the leaves to be about 12 inches for each leaf. In the second picture I measured the leaves to all be about 6 inches for each leaf. The comparison between the plant in picture one and the plant in picture two is that the first plant has thicker, greener, and longer leaves while the second plant has thinner, less green, and shorter plants. Other than these two pictures, many of the other plants have many different lengths, colors, and shape.


          Our class garden has a lot of variation because of something called traits. Traits are the different characteristics that any living thing has. An example of traits is simple humans. Humans are all the same species but we do not all look exactly alike because of traits that we inherent from our parents that make us look different from everyone else. Traits are a result that come from genes. Genes are a form of heredity that is transferred to us from our parents. Genes are the reason why we usually look like both of our parents because we inherit some traits from our parents. As an example we could have the same eyes as our dad and the same nose as our mom. Traits are genes that create the genotype which is also code for phenotype which is the physical appearance of any living organism. When in biology, the genotypes and phenotypes of plants can be described by the term natural variation. Natural variation can connect to the terms artificial selection and selective breeding. Brassica Oleracea contains plants like cabbage, Brussels Sprouts, etc. In the cooking world, people growing these plants want the most out of their harvest for the season. More often than not, farmers try to find the best traits for each of the plants and try to find a way to modify the plants so that they have the "correct" traits. In the sentence before is exactly what artificial selection and selective breeding mean. To some it up, they basically mean for people, most specifically farmers, to change the traits of plants so that they are all the same and so the none are too different or different in general. In terms of variation, the last topic I want to talk about is mutations. Most plants get the genes of their parents which is decent with modification. Sometimes there are mistakes when the DNA is passed which leads to mutations which are changes to the structure of a gene. This leads to organisms having special traits. An example of a mutation is a cow with an extra leg. There are some types of mutations that can actually be harmful to the organism but that isn't very common.

          

          A very common trait in all the leaves of all the plants, despite how big the differences are, are the vein pattern. The common vein pattern is one big vein in the middle and a lot of small veins going towards that outside of the leaf. If you look closely in the pictures below, in the first and second picture you see the exact same vein pattern, despite one having more than the other, they still have the exact same pattern of one big vein down the middle and little veins going from the big vein to the outside of the leaf. I believe that the simplest thing to do to change the pattern is to use artificial selection. Artificial selection is mostly used to increase the size of foods in not only America but some other countries as well. These foods are GMO's, also known as, genetically modified organisms and is debated to cause bad diseases, such as cancer. The people who make GMO's just do it to get more money from making their foods bigger and they aren't aware of the serious consequences it can have. Organism usually get their genes from their parents but in this situations, their genes are modified to what the farmer wants. In conclusion, in about ten years, most likely, the vein pattern of Brassica Oleracea will be changed by artificial selection. 

Blog Post #8

All throughout are group's experiment with the Story of the Seed project our plant has acquired a lot of species of the Brassica oleracea since the last blog post. The plants have grown so much over the course of this project and starts to change and variate everyday. I think the plants have exhibited the most change and can be from 6cm to 17cm long, and not only that they have exhibited change and variation their color and size. Most of the leaves happen to be very sharp and scraggly and others are round. The leaves are very moist and have great color differentiation going from light green to dark green. The stems on the plants grew at an enormous rate since the last time we looked at them. But we could not get measurements on the plants due to thickness of the plants, but you can tell by looking at them they grew significantly. The collard plant we had, had a good sized diameter but was very stalky. Like the collard's the cabbage was very stalky, but for different reason to hold the weight of it. The kale was the tallest of the three and a very long skinny stem because it is a very lightweight plant. With both of the main focuses there were many differences in the stem and leaves.


Most of the different types of brassica are normally eaten by humans, artificial selection can be used to create specific phenotypes for Brassica. They can use this to make a bigger trait for the plant. Descent with modification comes from animals needing to adapt to a habitat. Selective breeding is pretty much the same thing but is created naturally and better suits plants. All of these traits are phenotypes. The phenotypes are coded in DNA by genes in their chromosomes. Phenotypes are obtained in a lot of ways. Examples, selective breeding, artificial selection, descent with modification, mutations, and adaptations. mutations don't sound good they sound harmful, but there actually very interesting. While all mutations happen to change the phenotype some do nothing but others do harm. Adaptations and descent with modification are connected in a certain way. Descent with modification is when an animal adapts and survives the natural selection and then is able to reproduce that organism or it can happen if either of the parents have a new trait.

One of the things plants have most in common is their colors. all of the plants are green. I don't believe plants have always been green since the beginning of their ancestors. The reason for that being the world has changed so the plants had to change and adapted. When the earth changes almost everything else has to change with it and adapt. While technology continues to advance and progress more and more greenhouse gases will continued to be used, which will change habitats and increase temperatures. Once Brassica had and was able to adapt to the new world they reproduced creating descent with modification and didn't die off of natural selection.


Farmers and breeders always wan to sell the biggest best plants. Of course all farmers want their plants to be appealing to get higher prices. Farmers don't usually get to choose where they farm, although we have plant modification they can grow corn even in a drought or "dry spot." Very popular spots to bugs are grapes in the dry areas or soy beans. To make these plants appealing and perfect plant breeding is very effective but even more so, genetically modifying them. To make the seed and get the best trait they want, they take a gene from the plants seed and put a copy to it, in the DNA of plant cells. After that the farmer grows the plant and lets it mature until its ready to produce seeds for the farmer. Finally, the government inspects the seeds and approves them and then they can be sold on the market.

Matter of Selection

Through this Story of The Seed experiment the garden has accumulated many species of Brassica
oleracea.  These plants grow more and more each day, with that comes more and more variation each day. These plants may be related but have many differences.  The trait that exhibited the most variation was the leaves. The leaves could be anywhere from 7 cm all the way to 17 cm. The leaves aren't just different in size but also in shape and color.  From the pictures you can see how different these leaves are in shape. Some are round as basketballs and others are jagged like swords. The colors are also very different as you can see by how some of the leaves are dark green and light green, with some having hints of purple.  The quality that showed the greatest range of difference was the size of the the stems. Due to the stems being too hard to reach or too long I couldn't get measurements, but the pictures show an obvious difference in size. For example the cabbage plant has a very short and stocky stem to hold all the weight, the collard green's stem had a medium diameter but was pretty short, and the kale had a very tall stem and was a relatively skinny.  With the leaves there were many variations, with the stems there is one common difference which is height.

	Plant 1	Plant 2	Our Plant	Plant 4
Leave Length	9.5 cm	7.5 cm	17 cm	9 cm
Leave Width	5 cm	1.5 cm	13 cm	6.5 cm
Stem Height	56 cm	45 cm	16 cm	50 cm
Stem Thickness	7 cm	5 cm	8 cm	6cm

Since most forms of Brassica are eaten by us humans, people used artificial selection to create specific phenotypes for the Brassica.  For example maybe they wanted to make larger cabbage so the used this to get that larger trait from the plant. Some of the different species could have needed to adapt to a certain habitat or area which created descent with modification.  Selective breeding is very similar but happens naturally in the wild and creates better fit plants. Lets take a step back here. All these traits we are talking about aren't just qualities the organism has, these traits are phenotypes. These phenotypes are coded in DNA by genes in the chromosomes.  Phenotypes can be obtained in many ways. For example, artificial selection, selective breeding, mutations, adaptation, or descent with modification. Mutations sound harmful, but aren't always. While all mutations alter the phenotype, some do it for good or don't harm it at all. The last thing I would like to share is descent with modification and adaptations.  These are connected in a way. First of all, an adaptation is a trait gained by an organism to make it more fit to the environment it lives in. Descent with modification is when an animal adapts and survives natrual selection and then reproduces and that organism has a new trait with out doing anything of the above. This also happens if either of the parents have the new trait.

This might sound silly or obvious but the thing the plants have in common is color.  They are all green. Well you probably could have guessed that, but there is a reason they are all green.  These plants possibly didn't start this exact color from the beginning of their ancestors. The reason for this is simple.  The world has changed so the plants had to change. The gradual change of the earth affects almost everything. As technology advances the more and more greenhouse gases are used this increases temperature and this changes habitats, which maybe could have altered the color if the habitats of the Brassica was affected.  Once the Brassica adapted to the "new" world they didn't die off from natural selection and reproduced creating descent with modification.

Breeders or farmers want to sell bigger and better plants. Most want their plants to look better too so they're more appealing.   Farmers don't get to live where they want, but with plant modification they can grow corn in drought areas, soy beans in a highly bug populated area, or even grapes in the dessert.  They way they can reach these "perfect" plants is to do plant breeding or a more effective was is genetically modifying the seeds. To modify a seed and get the trait desired they find something that has the trait they want, then they take that gene and put a copy into the DNA of host plant cells.  Then that plant is grown and matured and produces seeds. Then those seeds have to be approved by the government and then finally can be sold.

A Matter of Selection(Blog post #8)

         Throughout the Story of the seed the garden has experienced many changes and has accumulated many species of Brassica oleracea.  The plants have been growing very well from the start and they continue to even to the day.  The plants are related but they sure do have many differences.  The reason they are growing is because of variation.  The Leaves showed the most variation.  The leaves size ranged all the way from 7cm to 17cm.  The leaves don't just differ in size but also in shape and color.  In the pictures below, you can see how different the leaves shapes are from each other.  Some leaves are round and some are super jagged.  The colors ranged from dark green to light green to even some leaves with hints of purple in it.  The stems were very much different, the size between them was night and day.  In the pictures below, it shows the cabbage plant has a very short wide stem which held all the weight.  The collard greens stem was pretty short with a fairly medium/ average diameter.  Also, the Kale had a very tall stem, however, it was super skinny.  There were many variations between the Brassica oleraceas, with the common difference of height.
          Most forms of brassica oleracea are eaten by humans, so people used artificial selection to create certain phenotypes for the brassicas.  For example, maybe some people wanted to make some cabbage or another plant, so they used a strategy to get the larger trait from the plant.  Some different species possibly could have needed to adapt to a specific habitat or area which created descent with modification.  Selective breeding is very close but it happens naturally in nature and therefore creates better fit plants.  Every single trait that is being mentioned isn't just a quality that the organism has, but rather is part of the phenotypes.  The phenotypes are coded in the DNA by the genes in the chromosomes.  The phenotypes can be aquired in many ways.  For example: Mutations, selective breeding, artificial selection, adaptation, or even descent with modification.  You may think of mutations as harmful, but not all are harmful.  While all mutations change the phenotype, some do it for good and some don't harm at all.  An adaptation is a trait gained by a human/organism that makes them more fit for the specific environment that they live in.  Descent with modification is when an animal adapts and survives through natural selection and then reproduces and that organism has a brand new trait without doing any of the things listed above.  This can also happen if either of the parents have the new trait.
         The plants have at least one thing in common, the leaf color,  they are had some coloration of  green in it. They all had some green because all the brassica has green chloroplasts inside of the leaves.  When light shines on the leaves, it reflects green light, which makes us see the green.  This is because of the chlorophyll found in the thylakoid mebranes of the chloroplast.  This is why most plants are green and how we see them.


 
       Farmers and breeders will always want to sell bigger and better plants in order to make more money.  Most want their products to look as nice as they possibly can, appereance is everything.   By using plant modification, farmers can plant soy beans in an area with a lot of bugs, or even grapes in the dessert.  This way they can make the plants practically "perfect", by plant breeding or genetically modifying the seeds and to extract the desired trait.  To modify the seed the breeders take the gene and put a copy into the DNA of host plant cells.  Then when the plant is grown and mature it produces seeds.  Then the government can approve of the seeds and then they can be sold.

Story of the seed 7

In order for a plant to reproduce it must go through fertilization. The main thing in fertilization is pollen, which is brought to a flower either from a bee or the wind. The place in which the pollen starts out at is the anther. The pollen is then transferred to the stigma, part of the pistil, which is the part of the flower that receives pollen Only certain flowers such as the brassica oleracea has both male and female parts. In the stigma there is a tube that leads right down to the ovary(which has the ovules(eggs). Only the ovule and pollen can combine to create seeds.

This is the flower that I dissected, It is a Brassica oleracea .













This image shows a 360 view of all the anthers around the stigma.  The anther basically produces pollen and generates it. Surrounded by the anthers is the stigma which germinates whatever comes from the anther.

This images shows the ovary and the ovules coming out.  Also everything has been removed.

Blog post #7

This picture shows the anthers all around the stigma on this flower. The anther is piece of the stamen that generates and produces pollen. Surrounded by anthers is the stigma, which germinates that comes from the anthers. The stigma is a part of the female reproductive organ.

This image shows the stamen. The stamen is also the pollen reproducing organ, it has 2 parts to it, the stalk and anthers.

In this image you can see the female anatomy also known as Carpel. Carpel is a seed bearing leaf like structure that makes up the pistil.

This flower is the end result the ovary and ovules coming out and everything having been removed.





From this dissection I learned how plants fertilize themselves . Self pollination is the first step in the process, but isn't too common, but plants that aren't able to obtain themselves they get fertilized from wind and animals. An example, a bee will come to a flower and leaves it pollen on the flower. So when the bee moves the plant will be able to pollinate itself. Finally, the pollen is able to reach the ovaries it will form a zygote and then create its own seed.

"How does your garden grow" Blog Post #6: Ethan Short

Today I have noticed how big our have grown. When we started this project in the beginning of the year and it was a tiny seed, now it is a fully grown and healthy plant. When I went outside to check out plant, I noticed that there was some biomass around the plants. I saw that there was a lot of sunlight, cause we live in California, and then I thought that photosynthesis obviously helped our plant to grow to the size that it is now. The sun created a sugar in our plants that helped to also grow bigger. I find it very interesting how photosynthesis and cellular respiration help each other. During photosynthesis, the plant needs carbon dioxide and water, both of which are released into the air during cellular respiration. During respiration, the plant needs oxygen and glucose, which are both produced through photosynthesis. In the stroma of a chloroplast, the plant cell structure responsible for photosynthesis, is the enzyme rubisco, which makes up half of the soluble protein of most leaves. A cell makes enzymes through protein synthesis. Protein synthesis can me made by transcription and translation. During transcription, the DNA of a gene serves as a template for complementary base-pairing, and an enzyme called RNA polymerase II catalyzes the formation of a pre mRNA molecule, which is then processed to form mature mRNA. The resulting mRNA is a single stranded copy of the gene, which next must be translated into a protein molecule. During translation, which is the second major step in gene expression, the mRNA is "red" according to the genetic code, which relates the DNA sequence to the amino acid sequence in proteins. Each group of three bases in mRNA constitutes a codon, and each codon specifies a particular amino acid. The mRNA sequence is then used as a template to assemble in order the chain of amino acids that form a protein.