TOTAL = 85pts
5 questions
50 minutes
about 10 minutes per question
[17pts] Seed plants have been around a long time (seed ferns, then gymnosperms, and now angiosperms). Over the last 10,000 years humanity has produced a wide diversity of cultivated seeds that have been domesticated from their wild ancestors. These domesticated seeds (and their wild ancestors) present a treasure trove of genetic traits - a library from which humanity can draw from to continue towards the aim of a stable and abundant food supply for everyone on Earth. However, there are ethical concerns surrounding how this "genetic treasure trove" should be managed, used, and who (if anyone) should control it. Using the core ideas from the three papers listed below, develop a summary of some of the major ethical issues surrounding the management, use, and control of humanity's genetic treasure trove of cultivated plant genetics - be specific. Additionally provide your own science-backed opinion on the ethical use of humanity's genetic treasure trove of cultivated plant genetics.
The Core Dilemma: seed sovereignty and globalization (C. O'Grady Walshe)
“Hey Plants, Take a Walk on the Wild Side!”: The ethics of seeds and seed banks (Nicole Karafyllis)
CRISPR/Cas in crop breeding: Why ethics still matter (Frauke Pirscher)
[17pts] Trees are not a genetic classification but instead a growth form that has evolved multiple times throughout the evolutionary history of plants to solve the same problem - how to grow above surrounding foliage to capture more sunlight. Please describe to me how a tree grows - specifically the process of secondary growth following primary growth. Remember there are two cambiums involved. Compare and contrast this with how the first trees (Cladoxylopsids - a precursor to scale trees) grew larger and wider. Additionally, modern trees don't reach these heights alone but rely on relationships with other organisms in the forest. Please describe the types of relationships important to develop and maintain forest structure (as described in class) and how this scientific reality relates to some of the ideas in "Forest Ethics (by Robin Attfield)".
[17pts] One of the gigantic developments of angiosperms is the production of the fruit and true endosperm. Seed ferns produced seeds but no endosperm and gymnosperms produce seeds and haploid "primary endosperm". Angiosperms produce seeds that are encased in a fruit - the seed contains an embryo with triploid endosperm (true endosperm). Please describe different ways in which angiosperms form fruits. Pay close attention to how the structures of the ovary and flower are incorporated to form the fruit and provide examples from things we eat. Include ALL the following terms in your answer:
"aggregate fruits, multiple fruits, simple fruits, berries, pomes, drupes, hesperidium, pepo, accessory fruit"
Additionally, a caryopsis is a single-seeded fruit with a fused pericarp and seed coat (ex: cereal grains like wheat, barley, rice). Please take the example of a wheat "berry" and explain how the different parts of the seed provide different types of nutrients when we eat it. Relate the nutrients present to what function that part of the seed fulfills for the plant.
[17pts] Grasslands and mammals have coevolved throughout the Cenozoic. Grasslands contain grasses (obviously) as well as forbs (broadleaf-type plants, some of them legumes). Some grasslands (called savannas) even contain widely spaced trees. While fire has always been a factor in grasslands humans have historically used fire to manage these ecosystems - keeping back woody encroachment and providing fresh new shoots to attract wild grazers. More recently humans have managed domesticated livestock on grasslands. Most recently, grasslands have been tilled to make way for annual crops like corn, soybeans, and wheat. Please describe the broad arc of grassland coevolution with animals (include examples of how animals adjusted to grasslands AND how grass plants adjusted to these animals). Include in this description what tectonic/climate variables led to the emergence of grasslands as a dominant ecosystem on Earth. Finally, provide a basic description of how nitrogen and carbon cycle in and out of grasslands and how human activities like fire, grazing, and tillage affect these cycles.
[17pts] Provide a summary of the arc of understanding humans have gone through (as described in class) to understand genetics, especially as they relate to plants. Include both the relevant people involved as well as each new discovery and how that brought us closer to a more complete understanding of plant genetics and heredity. Bring this arc all the way to the present day.