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Brassica Rapa Essay

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INVESTIGATION OF THE INHERITANCE OF THE ROSETTE GENE IN BRASSICA RAPA

By: Justine Poorbaugh

Foundations of Biology 2 Laboratory
Thursday 2:30 PM
Professor Cheek
April 21, 2011

ABSTRACT

The Brassica rapa is a rapid growing plant that has a standard form and a mutant rosette form. Relative to normal plants, the rosette form is shorter and takes longer to flower. The mode of inheritance of the rosette gene was tested by crossing two true-breeding plants, one of each form. The F1 generation was then cross-pollinated to produce an F2 generation. The phenotypes of each generation were recorded and a chi-square test was performed. The F1 offspring were almost entirely standard form, and the F2 followed the Mendelian ratio of …show more content…

After a week, the phenotypes of the plants were recorded in Table 2. The strongest plant in each cell was left in the quad, and the others were removed in order to thin the plants.

Pollinating Flowers The plants were continually monitored and watered when needed. At approximately two weeks from the day the seeds were planted, several flowers were open on the plants. The plants were then cross-pollinated using a pollinating wand. The pollen from one plant was transferred to another, using approximately eight flowers. This was done three different days with one day in between. After the third pollination, the unopened buds were removed. The plants were kept watered, and the new buds and shoots were removed for the next 14 days.

Harvesting Seeds Once 14 days had passed from the day of the third pollination, the quad was removed from the watering tray and left to dry for a week. Then, the dry seed pods were removed and cracked open so that the seeds could be collected.

Germinating Seeds A piece of filter paper was moistened and then placed in a petri dish, and any excess water was poured off. The harvested seeds were then placed in neat rows on the upper two-thirds of the filter paper. The petri dish was then tilted on end in a water reservoir containing approximately two centimeters of water. The reservoir and dish were then placed under the fluorescent light to germinate for 48 hours. After the 48 hours, the

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