EEB 304 Lecture 3 – Plant
Manipulation and Naming
In this class we will consider various ways that people have modified food plants for their needs. We will also
discuss how plants are classified and named.
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Plant Manipulation – the Raw
Material
Flowering Plants – ca 300,000 species
Plants eaten regularly by people – ca 2,500 species
Plants in World Commerce – ca 150 species
Major Economic Importance – ca 20 species
Crops recently domesticated – 0 species
Only a small proportion of the estimated 300,000 species of flowering plants are regularly consumed by people.
Of these, fewer than 20 species provide the bulk of food that humans obtain from plants. Our ancestors were
judicious in their choice of plants to domesticate – no major additions to our crop fields have been added in
historical times.
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Crops of Major Economic
Importance
Wheat, Rice, Maize (Corn),
and Potatoes – the Big 4
This graph emphasizes the fact that the bulk of our plant foods come from a very few species. In fact, the top
four account for well over half of the plant foods consumed by people.
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Traditional Methods of Plant
Manipulation
- Selection
- Polyploidy
- Asexual Reproduction (=cloning)
- Inbreeding
The textbook discusses 4 major methods of plant manipulation that have been utilized in manipulating plants
for human uses.
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Variation and Selection
Keystone of Evolutionary Theory – “Selection of the Fittest”
Natural Selection – wild populations
Artificial Selection – when done by people
Note: For selection to work, there must be variation, and it must
be heritable
- mutations (natural and induced)
- geographic variation
A key facet of naturally occurring organisms is that they vary. Detailed studies have shown that the underlying
factor in producing variation is mutation, and that within a species there is often a large geographical
component in where variants occur. Variation provides the raw material for selection to operate and produce
changes over time. People have been the selective agent for crop plants, and have produced striking
modifications in plants, particularly in the structures that are used.
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Artificial Selection in Cole Crops
The cole crops provide a striking example of the ability of humans to change the appearance of plants in a
relatively short time. Each of the crops shown in this diagram belong to the same species, Brassica oleracea
(we know this, in part, because each can be intercrossed to produce fertile hybrids if they are allowed to
flower). These vegetable crops all originated in the Mediterranean region from a naturally occurring wild
species. The changes in each have involved the part of the plant that is utilized: the leaves in kale; the stem in
kohrabi; the terminal bud in cabbage; the lateral buds in Brussels sprouts; and the flowers and inflorescences in
broccoli and cabbage. These various crops have been produced within the ca. 10,000 year period within which
people have been utilizing agriculture.
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Polyploidy
Eukaryotic organisms, typically 2 sets of chromosomes/nucleus
= diploid
Gametes – have one set of chromosomes/nucleus (result of meiosis)
= haploid
Some plants – cells have >2 sets of chromosomes = polyploid
triploid = 3 sets
tetraploid = 4 sets
pentaploid = 5 sets
hexaploid = 6 sets
etc.
A distinctive feature of plant evolution is the widespread occurrence of polyploidy, and this genetic
phenomenon is often encountered in crops. Polyploidy occurs when a sporophyte plant has more than the
standard two sets of chromosomes in each cell. Various levels of polyploidy are observed, although multiples
higher than about 8 sets (octoploid) are rare (probably because of physical constraints that limit the volume of
the nucleus).
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Polyploidy continued
“Odd” polyploids (3x, 5x, 7x) – usually sterile
- advantage for seedless fruit
“Even” polyploids (4x, 6x, 8x) – often fertile
- organs can be larger, including fruits, seeds
- heterosis fixed
Many crop plants are polyploid – see text, Table 1.1
Coffee, Cotton, Potato, Strawberry, Sugar cane, Tobacco, Wheat
Even some crops that appear to be diploid are ancient polyploids:
Corn, sunflower
Because of the need for each chromosome to pair with its counterpart (homolog) at meiosis, polyploids with an
odd number of chromosome sets are usually sterile. This can be advantageous when it is desirable to produce
fruits that lack seeds (such as in bananas and grapes) but generally limits further development of the crop
because reproduction must be vegetative. Even polyploids, in contrast, may often be fertile and in fact occur
commonly in nature (estimates are that 50-80% of naturally occurring plant species are polyploid). Many crop
plants are polyploid, and induced polyploidy has been significant in breeding, particularly for ornamental
plants. Even some crops that appear to be diploid have been shown to be genetically polyploid, based
discovery of widespread duplication of genetic material within their genomes.
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Hybrid sterility
The production of new species through hybridization was once thought to be rare, but recent new evidence
suggests that it is common and highly important. Many pairs of closely related plant species can be crossed to
produce hybrids, but the hybrid plants are often sterile because differences between their chromosomes.
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Polyploidy can overcome hybrid sterility
A feature of polyploidy that has contributed to its major role as a element in plant speciation is that the simple
step of doubling the chromosome sets can restore fertility to hybrids that may be sterile because of
incompatibility between the chromosome sets of the original parents. This occurs because, after doubling of
the chromosome sets, each individual chromosome will have a duplicate (homolog) with which it can pair at
meiosis.
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Inbreeding
Most Plants are Outcrossing – gametes from different individuals
Some plants, particularly weeds and crop plants, are inbreeding
- self-fertilization
- self-compatibility
Forced Inbreeding:
- increased homozygosity
- inbreeding depression
Crossing between homozygous lines Æ Heterosis (hybrid vigor)
- uniformity
- need to produce new seed each year
Inbreeding is another mechanism that has been employed to improve crop plants. Most plants are outcrossing
(and the various ways that can be observed in plants to facilitate or ensure outcrossing were one of the things
that caught Darwin’s attention). Crops and weeds, in contrast, are often inbreeding – this has advantages in
producing uniform progeny and ensuring seed set even under adverse conditions. Forced inbreeding has been
used as a breeding tool in some crops – when a normally outcrossing crop such as corn is forced to inbreed,
initially the resulting plants are actually smaller and stunted because of inbreeding depression. However,
crosses between different inbred lines produce offspring that are both uniform (because the basic genetic
makeup is the same in each individual) and also often larger and more vigorous than either parental line. This
is called hybrid vigor, or heterosis, and is the basis for the highly successful industry of hybrid corn.
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Asexual Reproduction
Asexual Reproduction Æ new plants identical to parent (clones)
Applications of Asexual Reproduction:
- vegetative propagation (cuttings, rhizome pieces etc.)
- grafting
Another distinctive feature of plants is their propensity to produce exact copies of themselves through various
mechanisms. This is based in part on the relatively simple development that plants exhibit because of their
modular organization. The new plants are clones that are indentical to their parents. There are many
applications of asexual reproduction to horticulture.
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Naming of Plants
Scientific Hierarchy of Classification (See Table 1.5, page 35)
Kingdom Phyta “plants”
Division Anthophyta “flowering plants”
Class Magnoliopsida“dicots”
Order Fabales “bean order”
Family Fabaceae “bean family”
Genus Phaseolus* “beans”
Species P. vulgaris* “common bean”
*Name written in Latin
This slide shows the group at each level of the scientific hierarchy of classification that the common bean
would be placed within. Note that names at the family level and above are generally written in the language
used within the country of the specialist, although English is so widely used that it can be considered now as
the universal scientific language. In practice, taxonomists make the greatest use of the scientific name (genus +
species) and the family of the plant.
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Species Names – Binomial
Nomenclature
Prior to Linnaeus – use of Phrase Names
Linnaeus – each species called by genus
name + species epithet = binomial
Species – only category that is thought to
be discrete, objective
Species name – consists of genus + species
epithet, written in Latin
The only category that scientists consider to be objectively defined is the species. Since the adoption of the
work of the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus (in Swedish, Karl Linne) in 1753, a species name is written as a
binomial, that is 2 names: the genus name and the species epithet. The species name is written in Latin, and
must agree with the grammar of that language (which has number, case, and gender). There is only one correct
name for a given species (although there can be and is disagreement between different species as to how to
circumscribe a given species). The correct name to use when more than one name is available is governed by
the principle of priority, which states that the oldest name is the correct one.
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Principles of Botanical Names
1. Publication – name must be properly published according to
rules of International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
2. Type method – each name is associated with a physical
plant specimen (= type specimen)
3. Priority – Oldest properly published name is correct one
There is an International Code of Botanical Nomenclature that states explicit rules for the naming of plants.
The Code is updated at each International Botanical Conference, and these are held every 6 years (the last one
was in St. Louis in 1999). The rules include dictates for how names must be published, for determining the
exact application of a name through the type specimen approach, and for deciding which name is to be used if
more than one is available for a given species.
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Example – Rule of Priority leads to
Change in Plant Name
Wyethia trilobata
Æ Complaya trilobata
Æ Thelechitonia trilobata
Æ Sphagneticola trilobata
Complaya – published in 1991
Thelechitonia – published in 1954
Sphagneticola – published in 1900
The plant “Creeping Ox Eye” provides an example of how there can be changes in what is considered to be the
correct scientific name. The plant is used as a ground cover in subtropical regions such as Florida, and is found
throughout the world. It was originally placed in Wyethia, but when scientific studies showed that Wyethia
included unrelated species, its name underwent several changes in rapid succession. John Strother coined a
new name for it, but other scientists noted that previous names had been published for it although in rather
obscure places. It is now placed in the genus Sphagneticola.
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Example – Change in Circumscription of Genus leads to changes in plant names
Chrysanthemum s.s. (3 species)
Leucanthemum
Dendranthemum
Horticulturists can become driven to distraction when scientists change the names of widely grown plants,
especially when the scientific name is the same as the common name. Chrysanthemum is a sterling example –
until recently, this was considered to be a large genus of wide north temperate distribution. Recent studies,
however, showed that it was polyphyletic – a mixture of different lineages. The most recent studies have
concluded that the genus name should be used for only 3 species of the Mediterranean region. Thus, the widely
grown garden “Mums” now are called Dendranthemum, and our own ox-eye daisy (from which the cultivated
Shasta daisy is derived) rejoices under the name Leucanthemum.
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A Rose by Any Other Name …?
Cannabis sativa and the law
Most Botanists:
Cannabis has 1 species, C. sativa
Some botanists recognize 3 species:
C. sativa (hemp, cultivated for rope)
C. ruderalis (wild form, weed)
C. indica (high THC-form)
Laws: originally proscribe marijuana (C. sativa) Æ argument that
defendant not literally breaking law
Eventual resolution: looked past botanical “semantics” – illegal
regardless of what it is called by scientists
An example where plant names had potential legal implications is the case of marijuana. Although many
botanists consider marijuana to be a single, variable species, others have proposed that the weedy, wild form
and the most potent drug form are separate from the widely cultivated fiber plant (which is almost or
completely devoid of the psychoactive compound, tetrahydrocannibinol, or THC). A legal defence was
mounted during the middle and latter parts of the 20th century based on the technicality that some local or state
laws mentioned only one species name in making illegal possession or use of this plant. This defense produced
limited successes at the trial level, but eventually was overruled and has now been bypassed by more careful
writing of the laws.
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Tuesday Lecture – Origins of
Agriculture
Read: Chapter 2
In the next lecture we will consider issues related to where and when people began to farm.
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