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"DIFFERENT MORNING GLORY STRAINS are actually created by genetic disruptions caused by jumping genes, and the disruptions of normal gene functions creates the color and shape varieties of the mutants." https://lnkd.in/dxS_fjc View in LinkedIn

"TRANSPOSONS, jumping genes, transposable elements, are pieces of "foreign" DNA that can jump around a genome and from one genome to another genome, and resemble retroviruses like HIV. 90% of the maize genome is transposons and 50% of the human genome. They are key in causing Morning Glory variants." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposable_element View in LinkedIn

ANTICIPATING MENDELIAN GENETICS. "The Edo Period horticulturists displayed a deep empirical understanding of what we now call Mendel's Laws and the role of factors that affected flower colors and forms that we now know to be caused by transposons or jumping genes." https://lnkd.in/dru85i9 View in LinkedIn

DUTCH TULIP MADNESS. "A particularly rare tulip, Semper Augustus, was priced at around 1,000 guilders in the 1620s. But just before the crash, it was valued at 5,500 guilders per bulb—roughly the cost of luxurious house in Amsterdam. Prices collapsed in February 1637—although data here are particularly poor—and a few investors were left bankrupt." Curiously coincidental with the Edo period in Japan (1603-1867). Also, both flowers are governed by viral/transposon genetics. https://lnkd.in/dvpHgV5 View in LinkedIn

EXOTIC FORMS. "During the Edo Period (1608-1868), without the benefit of Mendelian genetics, Japanese breeders produced thousands of unique morning glories. Many of these strains still exist collected and maintained by the Japanese Museum of Natural History and individual breeding programs. Modern horticulturists in Japan continue to focus on the breeding of new morning glories. In 2005 a morning glory without petals was developed." https://lnkd.in/d_uwQ3a View in LinkedIn

TULIP ORIGINS in Europe are frequently attributed to Turkey or Persia, but the substantial trading activity of the East India Company (and its botanist's avid collections, and botanical diffusions) in Japan at the time of the appearance of tulips in Europe, combined with the avid and advanced horticultural practices in Edo period Japan make the tulip a probable item of horticultural exchange. View in LinkedIn

THE MORNING GLORY VARIANT STRAINS included the native form (deep blue bell), speckled white and blue flowers, flowers with octopus-like white flowers, rimmed flowers, and color variants. Images of these extinct remarkable flowers are not available in the west, but Japanese academics have conserved some of these germlines. https://lnkd.in/d65ZzMp View in LinkedIn

EPIGENETIC INFLUENCES. "The flower variegation patterns can be determined by the frequency and timing of the excision of these transposons, and their stable insertions produce plain color flowers without generating pigmented spots or sectors; furthermore, both genetic and epigenetic regulation appeared to play important roles in determining the frequency and timing of the excision of the transposons." http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065227X04801369 View in LinkedIn

OVER A THOUSAND VARIETIES of Morning Glories were bred by Japanese horticulturists since their introduction in Japan in the 9th century. Images of these extinct flower types are very hard to find but are displayed at the Tokyo National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan). They included a wild variety of floral forms including feathered, lobed, and frilled flowers in every type of color variation. https://lnkd.in/d2x6aNW View in LinkedIn

GENETICALLY CHARACTERIZED. "The Japanese morning glory has an extensive history of genetic studies. Many mutants in the colors and shapes of its flowers and leaves have been isolated since the 17th century, and more than 200 genetic loci have been localized for the 10 linkage groups. They include over 20 mutable loci, several with variegated flower phenotypes." https://lnkd.in/dp5iyXQ View in LinkedIn