The Importance Of Genes In The Evolution Of Plants

The type of irrigation system we have watering our crops can and will help either bring the drought back or conserve as much water as we can. Since our main objective is to conserve and save as much water as we can looking into the different and better irrigation systems would be the best idea that we can be looking into.

In general terms, explain how the basic plant life cycle with alternation of generations is modified in angiosperms.

Despite its importance osmosis may also damage cells by causing them to; a) shrink from water loss or b) burst from too much water gain. Plant cells [fig 3] have adapted themselves to ensure that these factors do not affect them, by forming a ridged wall, known as the cell wall, around their cells. The cell wall maintains the shape of the cell, and prevents the cell from bursting in a hypotonic medium by resisting water pressure. Plant cells have also adapted a larger vacuole, which occupies 80% or more of the cells cytoplasm (Davidson, 2004); allowing plants to store more water and nutrients per cell. Vacuoles also play a structural role in plant cells; by swelling when liquids contact them, plant vacuoles are able to control turgor pressure within the cell. This helps maintain the structural integrity of the cell as well as providing the plant with suitable amounts of water and nutrients; however the cell will never burst because the vacuole is contained within the cell wall. If plant cells are deprived of water their vacuole will begin to shrink, yet due to the cell the wall, the plant cell will be able to maintain its shape. [fig.4] Animal cells [fig 5] on the other hand do not have this

California is going on a four-year drought, having many devastating implications that are being felt by everyone in the state. The population hit the hardest has been the farmers of California. California, being economically driven by its agricultural production, is losing hundreds of thousands of jobs every year due to the lack of water. Farmers’ use 80% of water the state produces, directly influencing their production (Mieszkowski, 2014). The country heavily relies on California for much of its produce such as tomatoes, nuts, avocados, strawberries, broccoli, grapes and various others (Cooley et al. 2015). In 2014, harvested acreage was 6.9 million acres, the lowest it has been for the past 15 years. Farmers are now being forced to use significantly less land then before, but also ditch old irrigation techniques and implement new techniques to better conserve water; maximizing production as much as possible in order to combat the drought.

If there is lack of rainfall in certain places not many plants or trees will get watered causing them to wilt. It is common sense that humans need trees and plants because they provide the oxygen and food needed to survive. It is simple, it there is no water, food, or oxygen eventually there will be no humans. It’s a chain reaction; if there is no humans or water then there is no animals. Many animals will go extinct either because they do not have any water to drink or they do not have humans that can care for them. Sooner or later California will just be a desert that can have no life. Water is food for humans and animals and it needs to stop being played with and wasted by people. In the short essay “Tortillas” from Patterns For College Writing, share a story that says “My earliest memory of tortillas is my Mama telling me not to play with them. I had bitten eyeholes in one and was wearing it as a mask at the dinner table” (Burciaga 390). This is a good example of a kid playing with his food and not realizing there are many people that would love to eat at least one tortilla. If people keep playing with water, then they are going to be left with

Scientists continue to find new ways to insert genes for specific traits into plant and animal DNA. A field of promise—and a subject of debate—genetic engineering is changing the food we eat and the world we live in.

With the drought targeting the agricultural community in California, many farmers are starting to research more ways on how to become drought efficient. The two common methods of farming are organic and conventional. Different farming methods have their own way on affecting the public health and the environment through herbicides and pesticides. Some of the benefits of organic technologies are higher soil organic matter and nitrogen, lower fossil energy inputs, and conservation of soil moisture and water resources (Pimentel and Hepperly 2008). Conventional farming can be more ecological by adapting some of the organic technologies. The objective of this literature review is to better understand the problems that arise from being in a drought, the water supply, and how farmers are adapting to the change in climate.

Modifying plants is not a new concept. "For centuries, gardeners and farmers have been crossbreeding different species of

One solution to droughts is desalinization. Desalinization is, “the process that separates most of the dissolved chemical elements to produce water that is safe to drink” (Land and Water 4). This process costs a lot of money, which makes it harder to do. There are many problems with desalinization such as, using a very big amount of

Instead of transferring large blocks of genes from donor plant to recipient, small isolated blocks of genes are put into the plant chromosome through biolistics, vectors, or protoplast transformation (Horsch 1993). Biolistics is a technique that shoots the gene block into the potential host cell. In order for the process to succeed, the microscopic particles and DNA must enter the cell nuclei and combine with the plant chromosome. Biolistics is commonly used but has a slight failure risk since the breeder has little control over the destination of the gene block (Mooney & Bernardi 1990). Bacteria or viruses can also carry the gene blocks into a new cell. Common vectors in gene transfer between plants are Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Agrobacterium rhizogenes. In the soil, the bacteria will infect the plants with their own plasmid, transferring the desired gene that was placed in the bacteria's DNA. Vector gene transfer is a preferred method of transformation since this modification already occurs naturally in the environment (Rudolph & McIntire 1996). Last is protoplast transformation, which uses enzymes to dissolve the cellulose in the plant wall that leaves a protoplast. Once a specific gene block is added to the protoplast, the cell wall will re-grow into a transgenic plant.

The process of seed germination is dependent on both environmental and internal, hormonal factors. Controlled by a number of mechanisms necessary for growth and development, seed germination rely on interactions between plant hormones, genes, and the environment it is surrounded by (Miransari and Smith, 2013). Just as germination is a complex, developmental phase, so is senescence. Involving both degenerative and nutrient recycling processes, senescence is the final stage of growth and development (Zhang and Zhou, 2012). A kind of programmed cell death, senescence can be induced by both environmental and internal factors (Zhang and Zhou, 2012).

Have you noticed that some plants don't really need repotting? Or, have you noticed that some plants just need more water than the others? If you don't, then perhaps you should revisit Kingdom Plantae– which happens to be everywhere, by the way. Every plant you encounter in your backyard or park is unique, and like us, they need to be understood to flourish. And a big part of why plants' needs differ is because they might belong to different plant groups-- vascular or nonvascular group.

Drought is another factor of climate change that causes severe damages to agriculture and livestock. The effects of drought on agricultural production and livestock holding can be a detrimental issue and result in quality dissatisfaction of products. The agricultural industry can be affected by drought both economically and environmentally. The economical effects of drought on crops and animals can lead to the loss of money and time. When droughts occur farmers lose money because they will have to spend more money earned from their

All plants are subjected to a multitude of stresses throughout their life cycle. Depending on the species of plant and the source of the stress, the plant will respond in different ways. When a certain tolerance level is reached, the plant will eventually die. When the plants in question are crop plants, then a problem arises. The two major environmental factors that currently reduce plant productivity are drought and salinity (Serrano, 1999), and these stresses cause similar reactions in plants due to water stress. These environmental concerns affect plants more than is commonly thought. For example, disease and insect loss typically decrease crop yields by less than ten percent, but severe

Primary stresses, such as drought, cold, heat, salinity, chemical pollution, and salinity cause several secondary stresses, including osmotic and oxidative stresses. Initially, those stresses cause the disruption of cellular homeostasis (osmotic and ionic), denaturating structural and functional proteins and membranes, which trigger downstream signaling transduction processes, involving: Phospholipid cleaving enzymes (e.g. PLD), Osmosensors (e.g. AtHK), and second messengers (e.g. PtdOH, Ca2+ ions, and ROS), MAP Kinases, Ca2+ sensors (e.g. SOS3), calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs), triggering various transcriptional factors (e.g. CBF/DREB, bZIP ABF, HSF, MYC/MYB) that activate stress-responsive mechanisms and expressing various stress-resistance genes with several functions such as: Detoxification functions (e.g. SOD), chaperone functions (e.g. SP1, Hsp, LEA, COR), osmolytes’ production (proline, GlyBet, sugar polyols), water and membrane ion transportation functions (aquaporin, ion transporter). This cascade of reactions causes the restoration of cellular homeostasis and protection of functional and structural proteins and membranes. That eventually lead to stress tolerance or resistance (Wang et al., 2003).