PSS 021 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Heterosis, Norman Borlaug, Rockefeller Foundation

• School: University of Vermont
• Department: Plant & Soil Science
• Course: PSS 021
• Professor: Victor M Izzo

Document Summary

Traits directly related to human consumption: seeds: oil content, protein content, size, number, fruits: sugar content, oil content, size, leaves and roots: tenderness, flavor. Domestication: cultivation/management of wild populations (cid:862)un(cid:272)ons(cid:272)ious(cid:863) sele(cid:272)tion through (cid:271)reeding. Conscious breeding of plants with desired traits. We now use technologies to perform hybridization, polyploidization, transgenetics, etc. Alternative perspective: plants are using us to further their own lives. Modified by selection for traits to make it easier to domesticate. Teosinte: primitive corn, has very hard and relatively sparse seeds. We are unsure of where maize originated. During the domestication events, it was discovered only about a dozen specific traits make maize edible. Seed dormancy: when seeds are capable of surviving their off-season. By making fruits and vegetables more palatable to humans, we have made these plants more palatable to other species, creating competition. Wild plants contain more lignin, making them less digestible, therefore they are more sparse.