Sordaria Essay

Gene crossover, the exchange of genetic material between two homologous chromosomes, can be observed in many different instances with the help of model organisms. Many scientists observe gene crossover to better comprehend the heritability patterns of unrelated genes (Chen and Olive, 1965). In the case of this experiment, the use of Sodaria allowed students to observe the inheritance pattern of two different phenotypes when crossed in a a petri dish (Saleem, et al., 2001). Sordaria, a microfungi commonly found in feces of herbivores, was the subject of this study. Using Sodaria, students were able to observe random genetic crossing due to a mutation that the test subject underwent many years ago that only allows it to mate via sexual reproduction. Throughout time, Sodaria lost the ability to reproduce asexually, but is considered homothallic as it has the ability to reproduce with itself sexually (Kitani, et al. 1961; Carr and Olive, 1959). Due to its rapid gestation period as well as the ability to see the crossover from the spores, Sodaria became the ideal scientific model for this experiment. The purpose of this study was to determine the crossover frequency between a wild and gray type Sordaria. The use of Sodaria was due to the ability to physically observe crossover along with its rapid gestation period of a week. The rapid gestation would …show more content…
Each group was given the choice to cross either gray or tan Sodaria. Secondly each group would have to distinguish each asci to have undergone Mitosis I (MI) or Mitosis II (MII) crossing. This was able to be distinguished between the pattern of light and dark circles contained within the asci. Thirdly, after compounding the data between the class, students will have to see which genetic cross was more favorable. Finally, students will be comparing their own data with the expected value for the gray and tan