There’s a little bit of background information to know about the Brassica lab, in order to fully understand what is being tested and the mechanisms behind it. There are questions that need to be asked such as: why use Wisconsin fast plants, what gamma radiation does to organisms on a molecular level, and even what it does to organisms on a physical level.
Why did we use Wisconsin fast plants for this experiment? Wisconsin fast plants are more formally known as Brassica Rapa and are rapid cycling plants. They have a life cycle, from seed to seed, of about 60 days. They flower just after 18 days. That means that setting up experiments are very convenient as they aren’t as time consuming as using other plants would be. Another thing to note is …show more content…
Speaking on a molecular level, there are two things that can be effected by gamma radiation: the DNA backbone or the nucleotide chain. Gamma radiation is known as ionizing radiation, the waves carry enough energy to knock electrons from one orbital to a higher one. If these rays hit the DNA backbone, this could cause a breakage of it. When the stand is destroyed it needs to be put back together via DNA binding proteins, when this happens there might be errors when reconnecting them. These errors are known as mutations: point mutations, deletion, insertion, and frame shift mutation.
These mutations then lead to an effect on the organism’s phenotype or sustainability. Some things that can be affected in the Brassica plants are: number of leaves, number of stems, color, flowers, structural integrity, etc. Its sustainably can be affected too, the plant might have a mutation in the allocation of energy towards plant growth. This would then lead to the plant wither not providing enough energy or too much energy, both of which will end up killing the plant. The plant can also physical tumors, or uncontrolled plant growth because it can’t actually sense when it should stop
Why did we use Wisconsin fast plants for this experiment? Wisconsin fast plants are more formally known as Brassica Rapa and are rapid cycling plants. They have a life cycle, from seed to seed, of about 60 days. They flower just after 18 days. That means that setting up experiments are very convenient as they aren’t as time consuming as using other plants would be. Another thing to note is …show more content…
Speaking on a molecular level, there are two things that can be effected by gamma radiation: the DNA backbone or the nucleotide chain. Gamma radiation is known as ionizing radiation, the waves carry enough energy to knock electrons from one orbital to a higher one. If these rays hit the DNA backbone, this could cause a breakage of it. When the stand is destroyed it needs to be put back together via DNA binding proteins, when this happens there might be errors when reconnecting them. These errors are known as mutations: point mutations, deletion, insertion, and frame shift mutation.
These mutations then lead to an effect on the organism’s phenotype or sustainability. Some things that can be affected in the Brassica plants are: number of leaves, number of stems, color, flowers, structural integrity, etc. Its sustainably can be affected too, the plant might have a mutation in the allocation of energy towards plant growth. This would then lead to the plant wither not providing enough energy or too much energy, both of which will end up killing the plant. The plant can also physical tumors, or uncontrolled plant growth because it can’t actually sense when it should stop