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Introduction
Introduction
Further Information
Further Information
Fun Fact! this plant can be found growing down the east coast of North America and around the coast of the Gulf of Mexico!
¡Domain- Eucarya
¡Kingdom- Plantae
¡Phylum- Spermatophyta
¡Class- Magnoliopsida / Monocotyledonae
¡Order- Poales / Cyperales
¡Family- Poaceae
¡Genus- Sporobolus
Species- Alterniflorous
Taxonomic Complications
Taxonomic Complications
For the class and order of the taxonomic classification, there is conflict between sources.
Additionally, (and these points might be related) the genus has recently been changed from Spartina to Sporobolus, so the taxonomy classification has had recent changes, and may have a new classification in multiple different levels/locations (hence the multiple orders and classes)
Appearance and Habitat
Appearance and Habitat
¡Saltmarsh cordgrass generally grows generally in groups
¡Spreads very quickly
¡Grows very dense together
¡Found in coastal marshes
¡Specializes in intertidal areas
¡Can be found most commonly on shorelines
Traits:
Is greatly able to handle differences in salinity
Can handle temperature differences, but general is acclimated to warmer climates, especially due to it being specialized for saltwater marshes
Can handle extreme tidal changes between high and low
Producer
Autotroph
Multicellular
Eukaryote
Numerical Descriptions
The generally weak stems exist at about 0.5 inches in diameter
While the size can vary, the height can generally exist from 24 to 72 inches.
The leaf portion can be 12 to 20 inches long
In September and October, seedheads can be 10 to 12 inches long
Description numbers above taken directly from https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/njpmcpg13933.pdf
Primary Source:
¡Title:
¡Authors: L. DeCarlo1, F. Meckler1, M. Hans1, S. Kelemen1, H. Magun1, M. Noah1, L. Pappajohn1, N. Anderson1, R. Berger1, J. Berkel1, N. Brooke1, L. Chen1, O. Chijioke1, N. Dewees1, P. Falkner1, J. Frank1, W. Holzman1, V. Marino1, A. Ravaschiere1, Y. Wang1, A. Williams1, Z. Williams1, D. Gentile2 and R.L. Cox13*
¡The experiment that was done took place in an attempt to determine the effects of anthropomorphic actions, namely urbanization, on the Saltmarsh Cordgrass
¡While many similar Cordgrasses or saltmarsh plants could have been used, the resilience of the Cordgrass allows the researchers to undergo the heat shock treatment with the Cordgrass having a measurable response instead of killing the sample.
Experimental Design
Experimental Design
¡The test is based off of two different sites with one type of treatment
¡ The two locations are the Bronx and Greenwich Cove
¡ The Treatment used is heat shocking the samples
¡The two different sites are the Bronx river and Greenwich cove
¡ The intention of the two different sites is that the Bronx River is clearly urbanized while Greenwich cove is not, so as to provide two different samples to be treated.
Results
Results
¡The results showed that the two different sites reacted completely different to the heat shock treatment
¡Not only did the sites initially have different 5-mC levels, but their levels moved in completely different directions
¡In response to the heat shock treatment, the Bronx sample increased in 5-mC levels (5-Methylcytosine) while the Greenwich Cove sample decreased.
Conclusion
Conclusion
¡5-Methylcytosine is the product of when the well-known DNA base cytosine is methylated. (CGAT)
¡At its core, the treatment and differing sites show the two samples having different nucleotide bases in their DNA.
¡Even before treatment, urbanization has caused the two samples to have differing DNA, proving that they are evolving differently due to their drastically different environments
¡This is reinforced when it is shown that they now react differently to heat shocking, changing the DNA results even more.
References
¡DeCarlo, L., Meckler, F., Hans, M., Kelemen, S., Magun, H., Noah, M., Pappajohn, L., Anderson, N., Berger, R., Berkel, J., Brooke, N., Chen, L., Chijioke, O., Dewees, N., Falkner, P., Frank, J., Holzman, W., Marino, V., Ravaschiere, A., … Cox, R. L. (2021, January 1). Divergent epigenetic profiles from two differentially impacted wild populations of estuarine cordgrass (sporobolus alterniflorus). bioRxiv. Retrieved August 29, 2022, from https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.22.436412v1.full
¡Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Guide - USDA. (n.d.). Retrieved August 29, 2022, From https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/ndpmcpg11794.pdf
¡Spartina to Sporobolus name change. WMAP Blog - State of Delaware. (2019, December 12). Retrieved August 29, 2022, from https://wmap.blogs.delaware.gov/2019/12/05/spartina-a-name-of-the-past/
¡https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/5-methylcytosine
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