Biology 3475A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Venus Flytrap, Pitcher Plant, Plant Tissue Culture
2 May 2018
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Plants as A Human Resource Midterm 1 Notes:
Lecture 1: Introduction
Plant Sciences
There are many specialized areas of study within botany.
- Botany
- Mycology (fungi)
- Bacteriology
- Phycology (algae)
- Plant genetics
- Plant pathology
- Ecology
- Biotechnology
- Forestry
- Agronomy (use of plants in agriculture)
Plant tissue culture benefits: plants can’t get the viruses that humans can get, plants are easy and
inexpensive to breed.
Plants are economically important:
Ex. Grasses (quaker oats), beans, starch plants, fibre plants (cotton), oil plants, wood producers,
medicinal uses.
Can plants move? YES!
Plants can survive harsh times:
Ex. The resurrection plant: it looks like a fern are will spread out when there is moisture. When
there is no moisture in will shrivel up to help it survive.
Plants as predators:
Venus fly trap: there are specialized leaves that secrete enzymes to digest. This happens when
there is a lack of nitrogen in the soil. Venus fly traps life in boggy places where conditions are
such.
Sundew: attracts the insect, insect gets stuck and then the plant closes in on the insect.
Pitcher plant: full of water, the insect will fall into the “pitcher” and become stuck as there are
hairs that make it hard to get out. The insect drowns and gets digested.
* These are passive, while others are more active.
Stranglers:
Ex. Bind weed and Kudzu which will grow all over everything, have fast growth rates.
Poisonous:
Hydrangea: vomiting, weakness, sweating, coma.
Lily-of-the-valley: nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations.
Chrysanthemum: planted by gardeners to keep rabbits away.
Narcissus: don’t eat the bulbs.
Even rhubarb which we do eat, has poisonous parts (the leaves).
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Vampires:
Mistletoe: is a stem parasite/ hemi-parasite (a photosynthetic plant that obtains nutrients, water
and some of its energy from a host plant despite having its own photosynthetic tissues). It bores
into the other plant stealing its nutrients.
- Poisonous
- Harvested for xmas decorations.
- Often vampires of woody plants.
Not plants:
Lichens and fungi.
Lichens can grow on almost anything, they are slow growing.
Fungi ex. “Puff ball” a mushroom that associate with plant roots.
Lecture 2: Plant Phylogeny
Looking at a phylogenetic tree we can see the 3 domains, Bacteria, Eukaryota and Archaea.
- Archaea are prokaryotic, different than bacteria, and live in extreme environments.
- Humans, and the plant kingdom are in the Eukaryota domain.
What is a Plant?
They develop from an embryo (seed plants)
- Indeterminate growth: plants can keep growing, unlike humans who have determinant growth,
they have no “turn off” signal, they can grow past 7 ft.
- No nervous system.
- Sedentary- are stuck where they are.
- Alternation of generations: plants can be haploid or diploid, humans on the other had are
diploid with haploid gametes.
Kingdom Plantae
Body type: multicellular with cell walls made of cellulose, they have no skeleton.
Prokaryotic vs eukaryotic: EUKARYOTIC.
Food consumption: photosynthetic (absorbs light).
Reproduction: both sexual and asexual.
Environments: land and water.
Hetero/chemo/auto: autotrophic.
Aquatic Environments
- Sperm swims
- Supported by buoyancy; does not need a cell wall for structure.
- Absorbs nutrients; does not need roots to absorb water as it is surrounded by water.
- Float near surface for light.
Land Environments
- Need minerals; roots required.
- Fights gravity; cell wall made of cellulose required.
- Grow higher for more light; must often grow tall to outcompete neighbors for sunlight.
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- Adaptations to dry environments.
- Reproduction differs.
- Roots anchor and absorb minerals.
- Water transport system, water loss system.
- Pollen and seeds exist for more complex plants.
Alternation of Generations
Gametophyte: haploid (1n), makes gametes.
Sporophyte: diploid (2n), makes spores which are haploid.
Plants can have haploid and diploid phases...
- In the haploid phase spores (1n) become gametophytes (1n) which make gametes (1n).
- Two gametes (1n) come together through fertilization to make a zygote (2n), we are now in the
diploid phase.
- The zygote (2n) grows into a sporophyte (2n) which, through meiosis (type of cell division,
reduces the chromosome number by half) divides and makes spores (1n).
Evolutionary trend from haploid to diploid:
We do not notice the alternation in generations because they have changed to have a
predominant stage.
- Sporophyte (2n) stage over evolutionary time has become more dominant, while gametophyte
stage has beome protected and small.
- Gameted need lots of water, which isn’t good as water may not always be available.
Common Names
Common names have evolved differently in different places in the world many times for the
same plants.
Alternatively different plant species may share the same common name.
- There is therefor a bit of difficulty and confusion surrounding common names.
- Therefor need a universally accepted classification for each species.
Carl Linneaus- The Father of Modern Taxonomy
At the beginning of Linneasus’s time a polynomial system was used to name plants.
Polynomial: plants were named with a polynomial, a single word name for the plant (today
called the genus name), followed by descriptive terms.
Flaws: not standardized, resulted in long names.
- He came up with the binomial system we use today.
- Made a sort of key based on number, arrangement and length of stamens.
Flaw: grouped together unrelated plants.
- Linnaeus however adopted the binomial system of nomenclature.
Binomial system of nomenclature: used only two names to describe the plant, the single name,
and only one descriptive word, simplifying naming greatly.
- Binomial system now used for all organisms, not just in botany.
Latin Names
- Not obtuse ie., not difficult to understand.
- We can know a specific plant name written anywhere on earth.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Plants as a human resource midterm 1 notes: There are many specialized areas of study within botany. Plant tissue culture benefits: plants can"t get the viruses that humans can get, plants are easy and inexpensive to breed. Grasses (quaker oats), beans, starch plants, fibre plants (cotton), oil plants, wood producers, medicinal uses. The resurrection plant: it looks like a fern are will spread out when there is moisture. When there is no moisture in will shrivel up to help it survive. Venus fly trap: there are specialized leaves that secrete enzymes to digest. This happens when there is a lack of nitrogen in the soil. Venus fly traps life in boggy places where conditions are such. Sundew: attracts the insect, insect gets stuck and then the plant closes in on the insect. Pitcher plant: full of water, the insect will fall into the pitcher and become stuck as there are hairs that make it hard to get out.
