Re: Exploding pumpkins - New theory

On Wed, Apr 21, 1999 at 05:01:46PM -0400, SteveS012@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 4/21/99 1:20:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> indbio@disknet.com writes:
> 
> > But you would still be back to your old problem, "Of two pumpkins
> >  growing on the same vine, one is always better."

> Not if two embryos were clones, there would be no genetic difference. So, if 
> they both were planted at the same time, they would be genetically paralell. 
> So each flower, male and female, would appear in the exact same number and 
> each in the exact same corresponding location on each plant. Each of these 
> flowers would be genetically identical in every way to the corresponding 
> flower on the other plant. 

I don't think this is true.  Environmental conditions play a role in plant
development that you can't ignore, even in genetically identical
individuals.  For example, three other plants that I grow clones of--
potatoes, garlic, and apples--do not grow identical plants even though
they are genetically identical.  The individual plants respond to soil,
water, nutrient and light conditions, slight differences in pruning, etc.
which leads to distinct but similar individuals.  For instance, a
difference in nutrient or water distribution, or differences in warmth
lead to different root structures both from the main vine and from the
leaf nodes which can lead to differences in the vines, fruit growth, and
possibly sex expression in the flowers.  You would have to perform an
experiement to see the extent of the dependence on environment, which
would be fascinating but based on my experience there would be more
difference than you might expect.

Shaun

-- 
Poor animals! How jealously they guard their pathetic bodies.. that which to
us is merely an evening's meal, but to them is life itself. -T. Casey Brennan

polaris@wolfenet.com  ++  PGP email welcome

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