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Jen Bonczar, Kyree Harmon,

Jen Bonczar, Kyree Harmon, Marie Sager

In this lab, we first compared characteristics in genetically different but environmentally same plants in order to determine if certain characteristics were affected by the genes. We then compared characteristics in genetically same but environmentally different plants in order to determine if certain characteristics were affected by the environment. The characteristics we compared were height and stalk thickness.

Plants by number:

 

1. low light high fertilizer standard

 9 petiolar trichomes on stem.

2. Low fertilizer low light standard
19 petiolar trichomes

3. low light high fertilizer petite

no petiolar trichomes

4. low light low fertilizer petite; no petiolar trichomes

5. high light high fertilizer standard

 No petiolar trichomes

6. high light low fertilizer standard
Count of 24 petiolar trichomes on one stem.

7. high light high fertilizer petite

1 petiolar trichome

8. highlight low fertilizer petite

2 petiolar trichomes

 

Genetic differences:

 

5 and 7: environmentally identical but genetically different; maximum height is affected by genes because they were reared in the exact same environment but for some reason heights are different

 

stalk thickness is the same; perhaps not affected by genes

 

5: 18 cm tall

7: 12 cm tall

 

6 and 8: environmentally identical but genetically different; maximum height is affected by genes because they were reared in the exact same environment but for some reason heights are different

 

6: 10 cm tall

8: 3 cm tall

 

stalk thickness is the same; perhaps not affected by genes

 

Environment differences:

 

4 and 7: genetically same but environmentally different; dramatic difference in height; implies that height is a characteristic that is influenced by both genes and the environment

 

4: 5 cm tall

7: 12 cm tall

 

4 and 7 have stalk thickness difference

 

2 and 5: genetically same but environmentally different; dramatic difference in height; implies that height is a characteristic that is influenced by both genes and the environment

 

2 and 5 have stalk thickness differences; implies that this is a function of environment

 

A summary of our observations is that height is affected by both genes and environment but stalk thickness has an enivronmental influence but not a genetic one.

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