Karishma Post #8

The most variation present in the Brassica Oleracea plants lies in the leaves. Among all the plants, the size and shape vary. Some leaves are wider while some are longer. The biggest extreme in variation is the shape. While some of the leaves are curled up, the others are flat.

This is Leaf #1. It is 3.5 inches (88.9 mm) wide

This is leaf #2. It is 4.5 in (114.3 mm) wide

This is leaf #3. It is 3.2 inches (81.28 mm) wide.

This is leaf #4. It is 2.25 inches (57.15 mm) wide

This is leaf #5. It is 3.1 inches (78.74 mm) wide.

This is leaf #6. It is 7 inches (117.8 mm) wide

 

	Width in Inches	Width in mm	Width (mm): Average Width
Leaf #1	3.5	88.9	88.9 : 89.7
Leaf #2	4.5	114.3	114.3 : 89.7
Leaf #3	3.2	81.28	81.28 : 89.7
Leaf #4	2.25	57.15	57.15 : 89.7
Leaf #5	3.1	78.74	78.74 : 89.7
Leaf #6	7	117.8	117.8 : 89.7

These pictures show the different sizes and shapes of each plant. While some are wider, others are longer. Therefore, the biggest variation among the plants is exhibited in the shape and size of the leaves. 

There is so much variability in the different Brassica Oleracea plants due to the natural variation that occurs. This variation occurs because different traits are passed down from parent to offspring through descent with modification. To add to the variability, some of the genes that are passed down have been mutated, or altered, therefore producing a different trait. In instances where humans favor a certain trait, they will attempt to increase the allele frequency for that specific trait by selective breeding or artificial selection. By doing so, they are breeding plants to have desirable traits.

The reproductive organs in the Brassica Oleracea are consistently the same or similar among all plants of the species. The carpel is the female reproductive organ and the stamen is the male reproductive organ. The carpel is the entirety of all the female system including the stigma, style, and ovary. It is located in the center of the flower. The stamen surrounds the carpel and contains the anthers and filaments. These are probably consistently the same because they are the same species and need to be able to interbreed. If their reproductive organs varied, the species would suffer from manual isolation.

The following shows different flowers and their reproductive system:

Also, all flowers exhibit the same color petals. They do have slight variations but for the most part, they are the same color. Some petals are a little more lightly tinted than others.

Here are petals from multiple different flowers. 

In order to naturally alter the appearances of either the reproductive organs or the flower petals, a breeder would have to isolate this species with another species that exhibits the desired trait. When these plants reproduce, the offspring would have both alleles for the different traits. When codominance or incomplete dominance occurs, both traits would be present in the offspring. 

Joshua Post 8

Brassica Oleracea is a species of plant that includes cabbage, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and many more. The different types of plants all produce a different vegetable once the flower is produced. Although there are noticeable differences between each type of plant, if you take a really close look, they are actually quite similar. All Brassica Oleracea originated from one species, which is cabbage. Brassicas are the plants that The Story of The Seed project has been centered on since the beginning of the year. We have made numerous blog posts on them and done labs on them. Now a final comparison of each variation will be seen.

The anatomical part that sees the most variation from plant to plant is the leaves. In all of the plants, there is great variation in size and shape regarding the plant leaves. Some leaves are curled up, and others are flat. Others are wide while some are not, and some are longer than others. Therefore, the most variation within Brassica Oleracea plants lies within the leaves of each type of plant.

We will call this leaf, "Leaf 1". This leaf is 3 inches wide and 5 inches long. In Millimeters, it is 76 mm wide and 127 mm long. The outer contour of the leaf appears to be smooth. The ratio of length to width for this plant is 1.67 (127/76). 

We will call this leaf, "Leaf 2". This leaf is 4.5 inches wide and the length is 9 inches. In millimeters, it is 114 mm in width and the length is 228 mm. The outer contour of the leaf appears to be relatively smooth with some jaggedness. The ratio of length to 2.0 (228/114).

We will call this leaf, "Leaf 3". This leaf is 2.5 inches in width and 4 inches in length. In millimeters, it is 63 mm in width and 101 mm in length. The outer contour of the leaf is very smooth and the leaf appears to be small. The ratio of length to width is 1.60 (101/63). 

We will call this leaf, "Leaf 4". This leaf is 5 inches in width and 11 inches in length. In millimeters, it is 127 mm in width and 279 mm in length. The outer contour of the leaf is jagged and the leaf appears to be very big. The ratio of length to width is 2.20 (279/127). 

Width	Length	Ratio
Leaf 1	76	127	1.67
Leaf 2	114	228	20
Leaf 3	63	101	1.60
Leaf 4	127	279	2.20

As we can see here, there is a big variety among the sizes and ratio of length to width of the Brassica Oleracea leaves in all the plants.

The variability within Brassicas can be seen in traits of each plant. The reason why each different trait arose is due to the fact that mutations, genetic recombination, and natural selection are all acting on the brassicas. Mutations allow for increased and different traits among each plant because they are likely occurring in each plant. Genetic recombination explains that no two of the same species are going to be identical and all if the plants are of the same species. This would be Crossing over and Independent Assortment during the division process known as meiosis. Another reason for increased variability is descent with modification. This is because parents are passing down traits to their offspring, increasing the differences between each different variation.

Natural selection acting on the species and plants allows for more variations between each plant because each plant will have different needs according to the environment and natural selection will favor the traits that increase each plant's chance of survival and reproduction. There is also increased variation because of selective breeding. Humans are selectively choosing which plants to breed and cross to produce hybrids which will result in different variations among the species. There will be different types of plants.  Along with this, they will each have different genes and different genes that code for different proteins that then code for traits.

To continue, the characteristic that carries the most similarities among the Brassica plants is the color of the flowers. Although they are slightly different, they all share the same yellowish pigment in their leaves. All forms of the Brassica Oleracea carry the same color flower petals, which again, is brightish yellow.

Perfect, yellow Brassica flowers 

Perfect, yellow Brassica flowers

As we can see, all of the flowers are the yellow color. Absolutely all of the Brassica flowers exhibit this yellow pigment in their flower petals and share the same, perfect reproductive system. They all have the same structures the stamen, pistils, and anthers. This is another realm where they all share a boasting similarity. Below, we see a side by side comparison with all the leaf which exhibits the large similarity within their color.

We took samples of many different Petals from the Brassica Oleracea flowers. They all have the same rich, yellow pigment, which is why this is the anatomical part of the Brassica that show to be consistently the same within all the plants. Although we cannot take quantitative data regarding color, we see a qualitative similarity between the color of the petals in the Brassicas. 

Plant breeders, in order to change the trait that is the petal color, would have to go through a process. They would likely have to cross it with a different colored flower. The offspring would exhibit incomplete dominance. for example, If they want to make them green, they would have to cross the plants with blue flowers. They would generally have to just cross different colored flowers as flower color will exhibit incomplete dominance and will display a mix of the parent phenotypes. The way that breeders would get access to plants with different colors other than yellow. They would get these plants by searching for those plants that have experienced mutations that change their color. This would be the only way that this could be accomplished other than gene editing.

Karishma Post 7

Over a while, our plant (the Brassica oleracea) reproduced sexually. The Brassica oleracea plants are also known as angiosperms. Angiosperms are a specific type of plant that has flower structures on them. In order to reproduce, the flower must primarily be pollinated. Angiosperm plants can be pollinated in two ways: self-pollination or cross-pollination. During pollination the pollen transfers from the anther (male reproductive part) to the stigma (female reproductive part). Afterward, the stigma carries the pollen down a tube known as a style to the ovary. In the ovary, there is an ovule. Once the pollen reaches the ovule, it can fertilize to form an embryo. This embryo grows into a seed which will later be dispersed and grow to form another plant. 

This is the plant before it has been dissected. All parts remain intact.

This shows all parts of the flower as it would be visible in the wild. 

                                              

This is the plant with all the petals stripped off. It is under a dissection microscope so we can clearly view all the reproductive organs that are present in the flower. This picture shows the pistil and stigma which are both female reproductive organs. You can also see the stamen and anthers which are both the male reproductive organs. Flowers, such as this, that contain both female and male reproductive organs are considered perfect. 

This is a picture of the magnified male reproductive organs in the flower: stamen and anthers. The anther the little pointed thing on the tip of the stamen (looks a little like an elf shoe). The inside of the anther contains pollen that would fertilize the female gametes and eventually form a seed. During cross-pollination, the pollen is carried through a certain vector, whether that be wind or bees. 

Here, the stamen and anthers have been stripped off and we are looking at the female reproductive system also known as the carpel. The carpel is a stalk (also known as a style) and a sticky tip which is also known as the stigma. Since the stigma is adhesive, pollen sticks onto it. 

This is pollen from the plant under a light compound microscope with a magnification of 100x. These pollen particles are what fertilize the female gametes. Once fertilized, they form a seed that would later grow into a plant. 

Joshua Post 7

Angiosperms are types of plants that have flower structures on them. Flowers are the special, delicate structures for reproduction. The reproduction of angiosperms is known as sexual. This is because they contain the male parts that make pollen and the female parts that make ovules. The male part is known as the stamen, which has something called an anther at the end of it. The female part is known as the pistil, which also has the stigma at the end of it. Angiosperms must go through a process known as pollination before they can reproduce. Angiosperm pollination can be self-pollination, where it pollinates itself, and cross-pollination, where a vector transports pollen from one plant which fertilizes another. During pollination, the pollen from the male part of the flower known as the anther has to be taken to the end of the female stigma. The stigma then carries the pollen down in a tube known as the style, so it can reach the ovary. Once the pollen reaches ovule, it can fertilize a female gamete. After the gamete has been fertilized, an embryo is formed and the growing ovule begins to grow into a seed. The seed is then dispersed in many different ways, ensuring the reproduction and survival of the plant species. 

Here, we see an intact Brassica Oleracea flower. None of the flowers parts have been ripped off of it yet and it remains as it would in the wild. Here, we can see the stamens and the anthers. Along with that we can see the petals of the flowers and the pistil, which is the female part of the flower. 

Here, we are seeing the plant under a dissection microscope. We clearly see the pistil and stigma, which are part of the female reproductive system. We also see the stamens and the anthers which are a part of the male reproductive system. When a plant has both the female and the male reproductive systems, it is known as perfect. In some species, they are on different flowers, and even on different plants. In this case,  the pollen would have to reach the female system by transportation through vectors or the wind.  In this photograph, the petals of this Brassica Oleracea have been completely removed to expose the reproductive systems. 

In this photograph, we are looking at the female reproductive sections of this plant. The stamens and anthers have been ripped off. We see the pistil, which has some visible pollen on the stigma. In reproduction, the pollen on the stigma would be taken down to the ovary through the style where it would fertilize a female gamete and form a seed. The pollen can adhere to the stigma, which is a way of catching pollen that is flying by fast in the wind. 

Here, we are looking at the male reproductive parts of the Brassica Oleracea. This part is made up of the stamens and the anthers. The anthers are the tiny things at the tip of the stamens that contain pollen on them. This pollen is the pollen that is used to fertilize the female gametes and form a seed. Often times, pollen has to be carried through vectors or by the wind to fertilize far flowers. This would be the case with cross-pollinating plants. Self-pollinating plants contain both male and female reproductive systems. 

This is a close up of pollen from the Brassica Oleracea that we have been looking at. We are seeing these particles under a compound light microscope under magnification 100x. These little particles are those that fertilize the female gametes which results in a seed. These seeds are then dispersed which ensures the reproduction and survival of the species. 

Joshua Post 6

Since the day we planted our plants, they have been growing. They have grown a lot since then, and that is due to various cellular processes. Those very important cellular processes are know as Mitosis, Photosynthesis, and Cellular Respiration. They all play a big role in the growth of our Cabbage plants in regards to biomass.

Mitosis is a very important process most animal and plant cells undergo. Before mitosis, our plants cells must go through interphase. First, the cells grow in size and build organelles. Then, the cells DNA is copied and microtubules form. The chromosomes, which is DNA wrapped up with histone proteins, are condensed during the first stage of mitosis, called prophase. During the third phase of mitosis, anaphase, the copies of chromosomes are pulled apart and each side of the parent cell has a copy of identical genetic information. During a process that comes after mitosis, called cytokinesis, a cell wall must form in between the new cells. This results in two daughter cells that result from the parent cell. This is the main way that our plant is adding biomass because the cells in our plants structures are undergoing mitosis every day. This results in more cells, which expands tissues, which results in more biomass. Our plants derive the energy to do this from ATP, a molecule made during photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

During photosynthesis, the chloroplast and chlorophyll in the plant cells take in solar energy, carbon dioxide, and water to convert to glucose and oxygen (6CO2 + 2H2O --> C6H12O2 + 6H2O). When light hits the plant, it excites the chlorphyll, which is a light absorbing pigment in the chlorplasts, and enzymes begin breaking apart water molecules. The hydrogen and oxygen molecules travel in a electron transport chain along the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplasts. NADPH is then created from NADP+, and ATP is also created through enzyme ATP synthase. These are the products of the light dependent reactions, meaning light energy was required to drive them. The light independent reactions build sugars using the ATP and NADPH made in the light dependent reactions. These help the plant grow in biomass because they provide energy for the cells to undergo mitosis. Cellular respiration also produces ATP.

In the process of cellular respiration, plants use the products of photosynthesis as the reactants. Cells use glucose and oxygen to yield carbon dioxide, water, and ATP (C6H12O2 + 6H20 --> CO2 + H2O + ATP).  The main idea of cellular respiration is to break down sugars into energy that the plant can use. Cellular respiration usually uses oxygen, and is called aerobic respiration. Cellular respiration however is not limited to only occuring when oxygen is present. When it takes place without oxygen, it is known as fermentation, but only glycolysis can happen. Cellular respiration has 4 stages; glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, link reaction, and electron transport chain. In glycolysis, glucose in the cytoplasm is broken down to two molecules of pyruvate. The pyruvate is broken down to produce acetyl-CoA in a process known as pyruvate oxidation. The Krebs cycle then uses this molecule to produce NADH, FADH2, ATP molecules, and carbon dioxide. The NADH and FADH2 will pass their electrons through the electron transport chain and the result will be ATP, through a process known as oxidative phosphorylation. As the electrons pass down this chain, energy is released and used to pump protons out of the mitochondrial matrix, which results in a gradient. The protons go back into the mitochondrial matrix through an enzyme known as ATP synthase, which makes ATP. The ATP is used for many reasons, but primarily for growth. Biomass is added from this growth.

The Production of enzymes depends mainly on two things, ribonucleic acid and ribosomes. To build enzymes, a mRNA copy has to be transcribed in the nucleus from DNA. RNA polymerase would transcribe the mRNA. The mRNA strand would then leave the nucleus and a ribosome would eventually attach itself to it. The ribosome would then start translating 3 nucleotides at a time, and would start at codons UAG, UGA, or UAA. The tRNA in the ribosome would attach an anti-codon to the mRNA codons and the oligopeptide, which in this case is an enzyme, would begin being assembled. One amino acid is translated from 3 nucleotides. This is how our plants would make enzymes if a message was sent to the nucleus that the production of certain enzymes was needed. After they enzyme is synthesized, it would have to travel to its destination. To do this, the enzyme would first pass through the endoplasmic reticulum. If the enzyme was needed somewhere outside of the cell, it would go to the golgi apparatus where it would be packaged in vesicles and sent to it's destination.

Karishma's Blog Post #6

After growing for six months, our plant has grown exponentially. The majority of the mass that the plants gained comes from carbon.  During the process of photosynthesis, plants also gain carbon dioxide. They take energy from the sun, water, and carbon dioxide. They use all these nutrients to convert into glucose and oxygen. When the sunlight hits the chloroplasts, it activates an enzyme that causes water molecules to break apart. Due to this, the hydrogen ions and free electrons convert NADP+ to NADPH which is used during light-independent reactions. During light-independent reactions, plants build up sugar from carbon dioxide and products from light-dependent reactions (ATP and NADPH) More glucose can also come from ATP since ATP assists the plants in making more glucose.

Plants also utilize cellular respiration. The plants obtain some of their carbon from animal cellular respiration. Animals take in oxygen and sugar that is made when plants undergo photosynthesis and convert it into carbon dioxide along with energy (ATP) and water. Cellular respiration occurs in the mitochondrion of the cell. During cellular respiration, plants fix carbon dioxide. They also break down sugar into usable energy for the cell (ATP). Cellular respiration occurs when light is scarce.

This all helps the plant grow in biomass. From both, cellular respiration and photosynthesis, plants can take in and use carbon dioxide that would contribute to the increase of biomass in plants. Additionally, plant cells divide (cell division). During cell division, the cell will start to duplicate the genetic material when chromosomes attach to each other to form sister chromosomes. During metaphase, these chromosomes will line up along the equator of the cell. In anaphase, the chromatids start to split apart and move to different poles. Afterward, the cell goes through telophase and cytokinesis. Here the two cells pinch together and two daughter cells are formed. This process of mitosis occurs millions of times inside one living organism. As an organism gains new cells, its mass would grow.

When the plant is in need, it can easily make necessary enzymes. Enzymes are a certain type of protein that catalyzed chemical reactions. Since enzymes are proteins, they are made in the same way as proteins. Therefore, it is the same exact process. Once the signal is sent to the nucleus that the cell is in need of the certain enzyme, the DNA code for that specific enzyme gets copied by RNA polymerase. The messenger RNA (mRNA) leaves the nucleus of the cell and enters the cytoplasm. Here it comes into contact with the ribosomes. The ribosomes attach to the RNA and read each codon (three nucleotide bases) in order to select the necessary amino acid. Additionally, tRNA attaches itself to each codon before it goes through the ribosomes in order to ensure the RNA to confirm it is choosing the correct amino acids.  Once the stop codon is reached in the RNA, the amino acid is formed and the amino acid goes on to construct the protein that the amino acid is being coded for. That is how enzymes would be made in the plant.

Blog Post 5 Enzo's Seed Story by Joshua Jauregui

Throughout the duration of The Story of The Seed project, Enzo has learned many things that have surprised him. The year-long project has opened his eyes to many different things, even if it brought it's challenges. Enzo has developed an understanding as to how normal garden plants partake in the different biogeochemical cycles. Additionally, his comprehension towards ecological succession has grown. One thing that surprised Enzo during the project so far was the rate at which his team's plants grew. Specifically, he was surprised at the experimental plant groups growth. Another thing that has amazed him is that his team's experiment actually worked, because he anticipated that the materials they had gotten would be insufficient. Enzo also greatly appreciated the opportunity to have his friends as teammates for the project. They made him laugh while they worked, and that really motivated him. Enzo was left confused by a couple of things as well. One thing that made him think deeper was how biogeochemical cycles actually affect plants and the environment around it. Another thing that made him think deeper was getting the materials for his experiment that fit their exact needs. While Enzo finds it bittersweet that the first half of the project is done, he anticipates what awaits him in the next Story of The Seed project chapter.

Blog Post 5 Dasha's Seed Story by Karishma Miranda

Throughout the Story of the Seed, Dasha has learned many valuable lessons that would aid in her future, especially in biology class. Some of these lessons include factors that contribute to a plants survival along with the main difference between abiotic and biotic factors. She was extremely amazed when she found out about how long it took the plant to grow. Her teams plant only started growing after six weeks. The whole process made Dasha think a little deeper. She had to think a lot about the germination of the seed and how it all came together plus, identifying the parts of the plants. Most of the laughs during this project came from collaborating with her teammates. After semester one, Dasha has gained a new perspective into germination by participating in the Story of the Seed project.