Cereoid wrote:
>> Cloned plants would genetically identical. One can theoretically raise an
> INFINITE number of genetically identical plants. Mind boggling, isn't it? It
> is being done all the time.
GH: no kidding... thanks for the info.
>> The rest depends on how they were raised. Genetically identical plants grown
> under different conditions may outwardly look different.
>
GH: I understand it depends on what part the plant started from in the
case of fragmentation etc.
However, in the case of some well organized "spore" bearing
asexual plants, they should all look pretty much the same... like
Dandelions for instance. (A Dandelion is an asexual plant if
I'm not mistaken).
Now, it's pretty noticeable on your lawn that some Dandelions get
a lot larger than others at maturity. If we assume that they are all
genetically IDENTICAL (or arranged it so), then this would tell us
something about the effect of the "average environment" on Dandelion
growth, would it not? I mean, we could compute a mean and a
standard deviation for the height and weight of an ensemble
of "genetically identical" Dandelions... isn't this so? This would
tell us how much the "environmental variance" was.
> The old nature verses nurture argument?
>
GH: Yes sir.... big time. The thesis here, is that there is such a
thing as a "universal environmental growth curve deficit" for, in
effect,
every living thing on the planet. Of course, you have to "eliminate
the genetic component" first, to measure it. Seems to me, from what
I've heard.... agriculturists must ALREADY KNOW the answer
to this question, at least for specific asexual crops... and
probably know it to 2-decimal places. I'd like to find out
what it is.
You have no idea how important this is. Scientists now suspect
that this "universal growth curve deficit" in humans (see:
http://people.ne.mediaone.net/ghammond/growth5.JPG
is actually the scientific explanation of "God", because of it's
impact on the brain.
Identical Twin studies are used extensively in Psychology as
you know. But now it is suspected that this "growth curve deficit"
actually exists in every living thing... and the first thing to look
at would be Plants... where, interestingly, the genetic component
can apparently be ENTIRELY ELIMINATED, unlike the case for the
higher animals because of sexual reproduction.
Any further info on asexual crop measurements... such as
the "standard deviation in crop yield per acre" for identical
plants, would be of the keenest interest.
--
BE SURE TO VISIT MY WEBSITE, BELOW:
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George Hammond, M.S. Physics
Email: ghammond at mediaone.net
Website: http://people.ne.mediaone.net/ghammond/index.html
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