Research Page for The Bush School, Team 10

4/22/05 10:08AM - T10: First upload of our journal is complete.
4/24/05 5:15PM - Dr. S Singer: Greeting, members of Bush School Team 10! I enjoyed reading your journal and imagine your oats will be getting even bigger by the next time you look. I have a question for you. Why do you think the root (radicle) emerged first from your seeds?
You asked about pollen pollinating more than one type of flower. Pollen from one type (species) of plant can land on many different species of flowers, but will only germinate and lead to successful reproduction if it lands on a member of the same species. There are a few exceptions when species are very closely related, but in general, pollination is species specific.
Some species of plants are even pickier. Some plants recognize pollen that comes from a very closely related plant of the same species (for example a sister or cousin). In that case the pollination can also be blocked. I'm looking forward to watching your research progress. Good luck!
4/28/05 12:27PM - Dr. C. Hemingway: Hello, Team 10, you are off to a good start with an interesting question. What ideas are you bouncing around for testing if pollen can pollinate more than one type of flower? I look forward to hearing more.
5/2/05 2:28PM - Dr. Jeffrey Osborn: I am excited to see that you are interested in pollen biology. One of the primary research foci of my lab is to study pollen biology. I will look forward to seeing where your research questions lead you.
5/2/05 11:05PM - T10: Today (day 6) we dissected another root and were surprised to find a distinct red streak in the root that might be the xylem. The weird thing is that if this is proof that there is an active xylem in our seeds, how come there is no trace of red in the embryo or in the cotyledon? If the xylem is carrying the red-dyed water somewhere, where is it taking if not the embryo or cotyledon? This was the question that stumped us. Other than that the experiment is going well.
5/4/05 4:32PM - T10: Hello. Its been some time since we last up-loaded, and we this will be our first data up-load, but with our experiment it was necessary to wait and make sure we got good, accurate data that would further our understanding of plants, especially Xylem and Phloem development.
5/6/05 11:01AM - PEER COMMENT from Bush Team 9: Team 10- Your research is very interesting. Just as a thought, why do you think that the red dye appears in the xylem but not in the cotyledon or the embryo? Is there any other place where the red dye might travel? This experiment is interesting because you can find out where water travels when inside of a plant.
5/8/05 3:53PM - Dr. S Singer: Greetings, team 10. You are asking a question about xylem development that is of great interest to plant developmental biologists. I'm not sure what type of red dye you are using. There are some dyes that are xylem specific. Actually they bind to a molecule called lignin found in the cell walls of xylem. Other dyes just move in the xylem. Xylem and other transport tissue starts to form in an embryo when it is at the globular stage. That is, it looks like a ball on a stick. By the time you started germinating your seeds, the embryo in side already had a very simple vascular system in place. The xylem is not as mature as in an adult plant, but it can conduct water. During development, cells change. Biologists call this process differentiation. Many changes can occur within cells, like the cells in xylem, before you can see them with your eyes. I think that what is happening in your experiment is that the xylem is there in an immature form that conducts water and that you are actually watching the process of differentiation occurring as your seedlings get older. Nifty! Susan