Instant Notes: Plant Biology

Plants form the bulk of our food. Many plant species are edible and prior to the advent of agriculture in the meso- to neolithic ...

edible plants including the grain crops. Of our other staple crops, potatoes and cassava are both South American in origin and t ...

crops because its seeds are rich in protein and oils, originated and was confined to the Far East, mainly China, until the early ...

varieties suited to the area. It is naturally dioecious but most cultivated forms are hermaphrodite, an advantage as a crop sinc ...

Section N – Human uses of plants N2 Plants for construction Timber Wood is made of elongated hollow xylemcells thickened with li ...

and its ability to be smoothed and stained have made it an important medium for sculptures and other ornaments and qualities of ...

Fuel wood is frequently harvested on a partially sustainable basis. Many trees will regenerate new stems from a cut base and thi ...

South American species, Gossypium hirsutum. One kilogram of cotton consists of approximately 200 million seed hairs. Exploration ...

Section N – Human uses of plants N3 Plants in medicine Ethnobotany Historically, botany and medicine were closely allied subject ...

andvincristineandvinblastine(derived from the periwinkle, Vinca rosea) are also plant products. Plant-derived medicinal compound ...

Section N – Human uses of plants N4 Plants for other uses Secondary compounds within certain groups of plants (Topics J5 and M3) ...

damage and a tree can produce latex for over 20 years. Ecologically, this has the great advantage that an area remains forested, ...

tree (Topic R3) has an edible seed but may owe its survival to its ceremonial role as it is unknown outside cultivation. On ever ...

establish vascular connections. These roots may produce other stems directly, known as suckers, which are genetically the root n ...

Section N – Human uses of plants N5 Bioremediation Introduction Many soils are contaminated with toxic pollutants. These may be ...

The fact that they only accumulate small amounts of biomass means that the total amount of an ion extracted from the soil may be ...

and reeds (Phragmites) all show potential. Overall, plants like this offer a poten- tially effective method for the decontaminat ...

Section O – Plant genetic engineering and biotechnology O1 Plant breeding All the major crops world-wide are the result of a rep ...

Selecting plants for desirable traits resulted in the development of identifiable varietiesor landraces of crops, each with slig ...

Section O – Plant genetic engineering and biotechnology O2 Plant cell and tissue culture Plant cell and tissue culture has been ...