Month: September 2022

FLOWER PATTERNS. "In plants, flower pattern has been modified in a number of ways such that sexual reproduction involving outcrossing, and the consequent flow of genetic variation derived from mutation, is favoured (Darwin, 1876)." https://lnkd.in/gb3zS32 View in LinkedIn

OUTCROSSING MECHANISMS. "The mechanisms in plants which promote outcrossing include the temporal separation of the maturation of the male and female organs within an otherwise perfect flower (dichogamy); self-incompatibility mechanisms, both sporophytic and gametophytic, where there is genetic control over the possible fertilization events, and dioecy, the spatial separation of the sexual organs on separate plants." https://lnkd.in/gb3zS32 View in LinkedIn

FORM MATCHES FUNCTION. "The structure of the flower is clearly important in relation to pollen distribution and reception and in many hermaphroditic plant species flowers have evolved dramatically to suit particular pollination mechanisms." https://lnkd.in/gb3zS32 View in LinkedIn

FLOWER STRUCTURE AND WIND. "In wind pollinated plants (where there is a strong correlation with dioecy), sexual specialization of male and female flowers is common. Staminate flowers are often borne on long, pendulous and flexible in inflorescences which aid pollen dispersal, while female flowers and in inflorescences are generally more rigid and have feathery stigmas." https://lnkd.in/gb3zS32 View in LinkedIn

FLOWER DISTRIBUTION AND WIND. "The distribution of flowers is also important and male flowers tend to be borne on slender branches with female flowers on large, more rigid branches." https://lnkd.in/gb3zS32 View in LinkedIn

ROADS TO DIOECY. "There are three possible routes to dioecy: from a hermaphridite, via monoecy, and via distyly." https://lnkd.in/gb3zS32 View in LinkedIn

FRAGMENT FROM NATURE continues from last weekend on the topic of the Black Death. There has been a lengthy debate as to whether there was more than one strain of the plague, and where it came from and where it went to. By using genomic sequencing, on human samples, these issues have been finally and resolved, some 700 years later. It is a lovely tribute to the power of modern sequencing. View in LinkedIn

BLAME GAME. “Others took the lead in persecuting strangers and minorities as well as those unfortunates who were perceived as witches. As though there was not enough death ready at hand, innocent people were slaughtered because somebody had to be blamed. Medieval medicine was not equal to the challenge of preventing or curing the plague, so there was a ready market for magic and superstition.” https://lnkd.in/giSpPWR View in LinkedIn

SCAPEGOATS. “The plague, in turn, resulted in another wave of Jewish persecution. The European Jewry were no strangers to persecution preceding the advent of the Black Death. The Black Death of 1348 led to more widespread persecution as the European Jewry became the scapegoats for the cause of the plague.” https://lnkd.in/g77Ywgt View in LinkedIn

FORENSIC GENETICS allows us to put to rest theories about the black death that were based in hypotheses rather than testable facts. Sequencing plague genomes from plague cemeteries and mass graves sheds light on its origins and propagation even after 700 years. View in LinkedIn