A Matter of Selection blog post #8 - Maya Lewis

1.  The leaves seemed to exhibit the most variation. Each brassica oleracea had mostly similar leaves to one another, except for these differences. Some were wrinkled and some weren't.  They also varied in size. However, although the leaves of the plant showed the most variation, the heights of the different plants showed the greatest range of variation. Some of these plants were very thin and tall, while others were very small but wide. The plant with the lowest height was 10 inches and the plant with the largest height was 37 inches.

2. Plant breeders bred their plants so that the outcome plants will acquire some traits over others.This process by which humans specifically breed certain plants to develop particular phenotypic traits is known as artificial selection, also known as selective breeding. As the species evolves over time, the Brassica Olracea plants have passed down their genes, generation after generation. This is called descent with modification which was a fundamental ideas when it comes to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.  As each generation continued to pass on their traits from the last, the plant evolved to fit its environment ( taller plants to capture more sunlight, etc) As the genes are passed from parent the plant to offspring, it is quite possible that a genetic mutation can occur in the plant’s DNA slightly and sometimes drastically changing the resulting plant, leading to natural variation within a species.

3. The Brassica Oleracea plants in the garden are all vary, but they also have multiple similarities. The most prominent difference are the plants’ stems. They are all of similar color( a light green) and had a consistency of diameter (most being around 0.5-1 inch in diameter). There are many possible reasons as to why they are similar. First off, no matter what type of Brassica Oleracea plant it is, the stem will still have the same function The primary functions of the stem are to support the leaves, to conduct water and minerals to the leaves, where they can then be converted into usable products by photosynthesis, and to transport these products from the leaves to other parts of the plant including the roots. Changing the look of stem would have absolutely no effect on its function. There were still some variation between each stem, but this part of the plant still had the most similarities among each other.

4. If one were trying to change the stem of a Brassica Oleracea, the change would not be substantial, and would probably take many generations to fully complete the process to get the desired plant. However, doing this is not impossible. The stem’s main purpose is to transport water and minerals throughout the plant. If a plant was thin, then the stem would also be quite skinny because it wouldn't need to transport as much as a larger plant. Comparitively, if the plant was short and wide, the stem would also be larger in size because there would be more minerals and water to transport in different directions. If plant breeders wanted to drastically change the stem, then they would have to find a way to make the plant grow more outward rather than upwards which in turn would increase the diameter of the stem. To do this breeders would most likely use the thicker plants to get a wider stem diameter.

A Matter of Selection - Sam Albert

1. The leaves on the Brassica oleracea plants showed the most variation. The kale's leaves, for example, had oak-like leaves and took up a large radius around the plant. Others, like the cabbage leaves, were wide and didn't produce very many leaves. The characteristic with the most drastic difference was the height of the plants. Some plants (like the kale) towered over the others at three feet tall, while some (like the cabbage) reached just below a foot at ten inches. In fact, the cabbage and kale plants seemed to be polar opposites, with the kale large and impressive, and the cabbage short and dwarf-like. The many differences in these plants occurred both artificially and naturally, and all originated from the wild mustard plant.

2. Plant breeders might've selectively bred different kinds of the Brassica oleracea to get certain traits in the plants. They might've done this to increase the size of the flower/vegetable produced from the plant, or just to experiment with to see the various outcomes. Artificial selection is another name for selective breeding, and it was actually used to cultivate many Brassica oleracea plants from wild mustard. For example, breeders would suppress flower development to get broccoli, enlarge leaves to get kale, and keep the flowers sterile to get cauliflower. This species has been evolving over time, and our plants have the same genes and some similar traits that their ancestors had generations ago. Descent from modification, one of Darwin's key ideas, is how our plants have been inheriting their parents' traits. Yet another way variation between plants can happen is through genetic mutations, where the plant's DNA is altered in the gene, affecting the genetic makeup of the plant and potentially creating variation.

3. The members in our group all agreed that the stem of the Brassica oleracea plants seemed to be the most consistently similar. The stems averaged out at around half an inch to an inch per plant. Their lengths were usually several inches long, but could be larger or smaller. Almost everything about their anatomy was the same (color, size, radius). Our plants still aren't fully grown yet, so there is a possibility that their lengths and sizes could change. Stems aren't going to have a lot of genetic diversity due to their role in the plant's system: support and transport of water and nutrients. There's no real reason for the stem to change. Breeders did modify stems in kohlrabi plants, but since the plant is still growing the stems were still very much alike to the others.

4. If a breeder wanted a plant with a new or unique stem than from before, it could be done, but it would take some time. What they would have to do is find a parent plant with a similar type of stem to what they are looking for, and breed it with another matching parent plant to get their desired offspring. Then they would use the most suited offspring to breed again, and then repeat the process until they got a good result. So if they wanted a stem that was long and skinny, they would need to choose an existing Brassica oleracea plant that naturally has a long and skinny stem and breed it with another alike plant until they got the stem they wanted. It could take dozens of generations, and it could take four or five.

Kale plant with the broad, oakish leaves

Short cabbage plant with wide, curved leaves

A Matter Of Selection- Abel Spackman

1. Out of all of the parts of the Brassica Olracea, the leaves seemed to exhibit the most variation. Although all of the leaves were mostly similar, each plant still had a different style leaf. Some were wide and wrinkled and others were small and shaped differently. However, although the leaves of the plat showed the most variation, the heights of the different plants showed the greatest range of variation. Some of thee plants were very tall and skinny while others were very small but wide. The plant with the lowest height was 10 inches and the plant with that largest height was an impressive 37 inches.

2. In order to get specific traits in a plant, plant breeders might have bred different kinds of Brassica Olracea. This old have been done for a number of reasons. Perhaps they wanted larger crops. Maybe they wanted higher quality produce (fruits, vegetables,...). This process by which humans specifically breed certain plants to develop particular phenotypic traits is known as artificial selection, also known as selective breeding. As the species evolves over time, the Brassica Olracea plants have passed down their genes, generation after generation. This is called descent with modification which was a fundamental ideas when it comes to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. As the genes are passed from parent to offspring, it is quite possible that a genetic mutation can occur in the plant’s DNA slightly and sometimes drastically changing the resulting plant. These mutations can lead to natural variation within a species.

3. The Brassica Olraccea plants in the garden are all very different, but they do have similarities. The biggest similarity is the plants’ stems. They are all of similar color and diameter (most being around 0.5-1 inch in diameter). There are many possibilities of why they are similar. First off, no matter what type of Brassica Olracea plant it is, the stem will still have the same function. It will transport water and food to all parts of the plant. Changing the look of stem would have absolutely no effect on its function therefor they were all similar. Of course the stems were not exactly alike, but it was the part of the plants that was the most similar between them.

4. If one were trying to change the stem of a Brassica Olracea to a stem not similar to the ones on the plants in the garden, it would not be trivial. However, it is not impossible. The stem’s main purpose is to transport water and food throughout the plant. If a plant was skinny, then the ste wold also be quite skinny because it would not need to transport as much food nor water. On the other hand, if the plant was wide and not very tall, the stem would logically be bigger because there would be more food and water to transport outwards rather than up and down. So, if plant breeders wanted to drastically change the stem, then they would have to find a way to make the plant grow more outward rather than upwards which in turn would increase the diameter of the stem.