A Matter of Selection

1. Based off of observations, Brassica Oleracea plants are most varied through the appearance of their leaves. My cauliflower plant had large round leaves surrounding the actual cauliflower within the middle. Many other Brassica Oleracea have different observations of their leaves. Collards, for example have large round leaves and Kale has medium sized and almost pointy leaves that vary in colors from purple to green.

2. Farmers selectively breed foods to create different options. The farmers or genetically modifying engineers are using a process called artificial selection, which is where humans alter which genes are passed onto the next organism or offspring. Many years ago, farmers worked together to select and breed natural variants of Brassica Oleracea to produce and emphasize different mutations. The results are descended from a common ancestor with modification.

3.  Besides the main differences with the leaves, Brassica's are nearly identical. Basically sisters, but not twins. Each plant has four petaled flowers that are yellow in color. Pollinators are attracted to yellow colors, which would make sense why farmers would use artificial selection to enhance that trait to ensure that their plant would reproduce and create offspring.

4. If a farmer wanted to change the yellow flowers on the plants they'd have to find a natural mutation or create one themselves that changes the phenotype of the flower. For this mutation to work, they'd have to make sure this occurred in the embryonic phase or in the gametes to ensure it's passed onto the offspring. The farmer would have to input the mutation into two plants to increase the odds of the mutation being passed on. Overtime, the offspring will have to reproduce, therefore creating large populations with this mutation. Eventually, the mutation will dominate and introduce the allele.

Anthers and Stigmas and Styles, Oh My!

Angiosperm is produced when the plant is an embryo by meiosis. Meiosis creates non-identical gametes in the form of pollen, which contains sperm and ovules which contain eggs. In plants, both gametes are produced. Basically plants are both genders, unlike humans. In other words male and female sex organs are present. Meiosis creates these gametes in the cells to be non-identical haploid cells through random assortment, crossing over, and chromosome reduction.

This is the Brassica Oleracea plant before being dissected. The petals attract pollinators to fertilize the plant. The first step of the reproduction process is this. It brings the pollen of one plant to the stigma of another.






This is the Anthers (the part of the stamen that contains pollen) surrounding the Stigma. The reproductive is represented through the Anthers being male and the Stigma being female. Flowers contain both parts of the reproductive system, however sometimes they only contain one. The pollen contains sperm which rubs onto pollinators, such as bees.











This is the Stigma, which contain the style and ovaries. The Stigma is sticky at the top, bringing pollen in through the style and down into the ovaries. Not only can pollen be carried by pollinators, but it can also be blown through the wind.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

1. Our plant has grown significantly from the beginning, due to photosynthesis, mitosis (cell division) and cellular respiration. The main process that makes our plant grow is cell division, however. To be able to do this, our plant goes through photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The plant uses chlorophyll and chloroplasts to create glucose and oxygen. The glucose is then transformed into energy in a process called cellular respiration. With the energy, a single cell divides into two, then four, then 8, and so on. Through this, our plant has grown to a significant sized cauliflower.

2. To be able to create enzymes, a cell needs to use the RNA and organelle components. To create mRNA, RNA polymerase has to transribe a DNA sequence into an opposite copy of mRNA. The copied mRNA departs from the nuclear membrane and goes to the cytoplasm. The ribosome then clamps onto the protein. The ribosome translates codons onto amino acids starting with the base pair AUG. The protein goes through the smooth and the rough Endoplasmic Reticulum and then scurries on over to the Golgi Apparatus to be finally packaged.

About Our Project

This project is year-long and we use it to study the life of a Brassica Oleracea plant, the cauliflower.

The seed would germinate after 9 days in an absorbent paper towels. After the said days we will plant these seeds in pots that will be placed under grow lights so that we will grow even more until we transplant them into one of the beds in the high school garden. Then we will select the strongest plant and closely monitor it and record things such as growth, flowering, and fruit stages of the plant's life cycle. We will soon answer and ask are own questions, do independent research, write an hypothesis, and so much more!  

Bio of Sarah Tuso

My name is Sarah Tuso I have lived in San Jose, Willow Glen all my life. I also live in the same house all my life.

My grandma loves gardening. She loves it so much that we have to sometimes tell her to stop and rest. That means that my grandmother, my sister, and I helped garden a lot. In fact we own a HUGE amount of land. So much that we have a chicken coop-OH that reminds me! I have raised chickens all my life so... I think we have 10. We also have 12 rabbits. And a turtle. And a parrot that talks. And 2 parakeets. And 3 fish. Anyway we grow a lot of things. Pumpkins, zucchini, apples, lemons, oranges, blackberries, corn, pomegranate, grapefruit, tomatoes, horse-beans, garlic, and many more that I can remember at the moment. So I guess you can say I have a little experience.  

Bio of Emily Heideman

My name is Emily Heideman and I was born in Mesa, Arizona. However, I have lived in San Jose, California almost all of my life since we moved here when I was little over a year old.

I haven't gardened much, however my mom is a landscape designer and loves to garden. Our whole front yard and backyard is a garden and people from all over the neighborhood come and stop by to 'smell the roses'. I'm not very familiar with cooking, however I love to bake. I prefer that with baking the ingredients are precise rather than a pinch of this or a pinch of that. My mom is not only the gardener of the family, but the chef as well. She's very good at cooking and makes dinner almost every night; with the exception of a pizza night now and then. In our garden, we grow French herbs so she uses those in her cooking. Such as, tarragon chicken. Maybe after this project I will gain a new interest in gardening and maybe cooking.