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Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 8:41 am
by mrfish
C4 Plants
I came across an interesting plant called honeysweet at dvplants.com:
Thumbnail Image
At the bottom of the entry page it says:
honeysweet is a C4 plant and that it "has one of the highest rates of photosynthesis ever recorded."

Interesting and so what does that mean?
Contrasted to C3 photosynthesis, the C4 photosynthetic pathway is more efficient based on resistance to photorespiration which is a wasteful process. Unlike in C3 photosynthesis, the initial CO2-fixing enzyme PEPcase in C4 cycle does not act as oxygenase and therefore it does not fix O2 even when it is in high concentration within the cell.

So, in a nutshell, C4 photosynthesis is just more efficient than other forms of photosynthesis.
Examples of C4 species are the economically important crops corn or maize (Zea mays), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and millets, as well as the switchgrass (Panicum virganum) which has been utilized as a source of biofuel.

https://www.cropsreview.com/c4-plants.html

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Sun Jun 23, 2019 8:48 am
by mrfish
Photosynthesis: Comparing C3, C4 and CAM
More info on different kinds of photosynthesis.

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 7:26 am
by twister
This Family’s Fight Against Climate Change Starts At The Top Of Centuries-Old Trees
Interesting how they are able to clone these trees. Rather than focusing on climate change, it would have been better if they had focused on the technique used to clone the trees. What special equipment and chemicals are needed? I've heard that there are hormones available to help stimulate root growth of cuttings. The last thing we need is another propaganda piece on the topic of climate change.

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Sat Nov 23, 2019 7:36 am
by wildrose
How drought is impacting giant sequoia trees
These trees use up to 1000 gallons of water a day. Under drought conditions they use less, but the problem there is that they also process less carbon dioxide when they slow down as the result of drought conditions.

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 7:21 am
by wildrose
Triangle of U
Here's some interesting information about some members of the Mustard Family.
The triangle of U is a theory about the evolution and relationships among members of the plant genus Brassica. The theory states that the genomes of three ancestral diploid species of Brassica combined to create three common tetraploid vegetables and oilseed crop species. It has since been confirmed by studies of DNA and proteins.

LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_U
I came across this while looking up some info about Brassica oleracea:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brassica_oleracea
It seems odd that cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, savoy, and kohlrabi are all members of the same species. They are considered different cultivars within the species, but they are so different in appearance that it doesn't seem possible that they are all the same species!

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Sat Dec 21, 2019 8:08 am
by shotgunmary
Kale, Cauliflower, and Brussels Sprouts Are the Same Species
They are the dog of the plant kingdom. Massive genomic events sound ominous!

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:56 am
by mrfish
For plants that look so radically different to be all the same species makes no sense. There are lots of plants of different species which look more similar to each other. I guess maybe the saying "LOOKS AIN'T EVERYTHING" fits in here.

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 6:52 pm
by camel
Good News: Daffodils Are The Worst
Other than an apparent misuse of the word mucilage, this is a really interesting video. Especially interesting is the info at the end about irises benefiting from what kills most other plants.

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 6:28 am
by wildrose
How a Guy From a Montana Trailer Park Overturned 150 Years of Biology
Modern genetics provides the skills to look at everything in a new way and many past assumptions are being proven incorrect.
The path to this discovery began in 2011, when Spribille, now armed with a doctorate, returned to Montana. He joined the lab of symbiosis specialist John McCutcheon, who convinced him to supplement his formidable natural history skills with some know-how in modern genetics.

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/how-a-guy-from-a-montana-trailer-park-upturned-150-years-of-biology/491702/

Re: Plant Science

PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2020 6:56 am
by cactuspete
As it turns out previous scientists weren't entirely wrong about lichens. It was just that they were incomplete. All that stuff you've heard about symbiosis is still correct, it's just that it's a little more complicated than previously thought. So, it might be a little bit of a stretch to say the guy "overturned" 150 years of biology and it wasn't just him working along. What happened is they added an interesting detail to previous knowledge.
He has shown that the largest and most species-rich group of lichens are not alliances between two organisms, as every scientist since Schwendener has claimed. Instead, they’re alliances among three. All this time, a second type of fungus has been hiding in plain view.