bio (0315) - BoL: [p] nature vs nurture

today.. ok it wans't mentiond, but we talked about a concept in ag:

P = G + E

where:
P = phenotype
G = genotype
E = environment

basically.. we wanted to know the effects of environmental conditions on two organisms with exactly the same genotype, how it would affect the phenotype.

now to have reliable results, we'd need the same genotype in two or more organisms. that's impossible unless we have identical twins etc, or clones. but.. there is a way. we took cuttings from a geranium plant, which means each cutting had exactly the same genetic makeup as the original plant.

now there were a number of environmental factors we considered altering that could affect the phenotype.. including light, soil type, air temperature, etc. but we decided to do water since it's the easiest to control and measure, and is a required ingredient for photosynthesis.

we did about 8-9 cuttings for each variable (water or unwatered) and they were al the same length (9cm) and planted in the same type of soil, in the same sized pots, in the same room. this was to make sure that the only altered variable between the two was the availability of water. none of the cuttings had leaves too, but each had at least one node.

see book for method and details, and results will be recorded later.