Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi,
I would like to know how to engineer a plant so that it conserves water.-i believe it has something to do with hitting the right calcium frequency.
also is it possible for me to cross a cactus and a regular plant-such as grass?

Hi Ravic,
Is this for a science fair experiment? Have you tried an internet search for terms like "genetic engineering drought tolerance" or "calcium drought tolerance"? That should get you started. If you have more specific questions about material that you find on that search, please let us know.
Looking forward to hearing more,
Chris

Thanks for the info.
I was also wondering whether crossing a very water efficient plant with a not very water efficient plant would increase the drought tolerance of the resulting plant.

Hi Ravic,

What an interesting question!

It is difficult to predict what characteristics a hybrid plant will have. First, keep in mind that it may be difficult to successfully cross two different species of plants. By definition, two different species usually do not reproduce with one another. It is easier to create hybrids with plants than with animals, but it may be harder than you think!

Even with a successful cross between two kinds of plants, it is hard to say what will happen. The most "obvious" result would be that you will end up with a plant that has a water efficiency in between the two plants you crossed. In other words, you might expect the plant to be less efficient than the cactus, but more efficient than the other plant. Of course, sometimes organisms surprise us, and you may very well end up with a plant that is more water efficient than either of the parents, or even less efficient! If you are able to cross two different kinds of plants, it would be interesting to see what the result would be.

Your best bet would be to research the two different kinds of plants you want to use, and to see whether you could breed them. To help you get started, here is a Wikipedia article regarding plant breeding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_breeding

Keep in mind that breeding plants may take a while, and that you would potentially need a good way to measure the water efficiency of your resulting plants.

I hope this helps. Please keep us posted with your progress!

Cheers,
Heather

Thanks Heather!
If I were to do this, what special equipment would I need?

Hi Ravic,

I must admit that I am not an expert at plant breeding, but to cross two different plants you will likely need to research their modes of reproduction. (It is different for different plants.) If you use two flowering plants, what you'll need to do is transfer pollen from one plant to the stigma of the other. You will probably need to do this in both directions (pollen from plant A to stigma of plant B, and pollen of plant B to stigma of plant A), for multiple plants. Here is a site showing you the different parts of a flowering plant that relate to reproduction:
http://library.thinkquest.org/28751/rev ... nts/6.html

As for measuring the water use of your plants, there are a number of different ways to do so. Here are a few sites to get you started on your research there:
http://4e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=3&id=29
http://www.practicalbiology.org/areas/a ... 2,EXP.html
http://visionlab.bio.unc.edu/physiology.ptml

Try putting phrases like "plant water use" and "water use efficiency plants" into Google to help you with your research. Also, keep in mind that resources you do find may cite other resources that you can use.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

Cheers,
Heather

Hi Heather,
I looked at the links you sent and they were really helpful. I would really like to do a project along the lines of experimenting with genetic crosses. However, I'm unsure of what a good question or topic for my project would be regarding this field and crossing plants such as grass and a cactus.
Thanks!
ravic

Hi Ravic,

As I said, I'm not an expert on plant breeding, and I'm not sure that you will be able to successfully cross a cactus and a grass (especially by the end of May!). I did find an interesting website that gives details about different kinds of plants, including cactus and grass:
http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/azplant.html

You will have to look more into the possibility of actually doing a cross between two very different plant species, but there are other things you might consider. One is to get seeds from different types of plants, and see whether the environment in which the seeds are raised changes the water efficiency of the adult plant. This gets at the "nature vs. nurture" question - Is the water efficiency of a plant totally genetically determined, or is it influenced by the plant's environment as it grows?

Let me know what you decide to do.

Cheers,
Heather