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Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant males and females will sexually reproduce and have offspring together.
Self-fertilization, where pollen from a plant will fertilise reproductive cells or ovules of the same plant; Cross-pollination, where pollen from one plant can only fertilize a different plant; Asexual propagation (e.g. runners from strawberry plants) where the new plant is genetically identical to its parent
Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. [1] It is used to improve the quality of plant products for use by humans and animals. [2] The goals of plant breeding are to produce crop varieties that boast unique and superior traits for a variety of applications.
The Plant Patent Act of 1930 gave plant breeders the same status as mechanical and chemical inventors had through patent law. [2] The early objectives of the breeding stations were to develop new varieties to better satisfy the American demand for better dessert, canning and freezing varieties. [ 1 ]
Plants with more than one significant human use may be listed in multiple categories. Plants are considered domesticated when their life cycle , behavior , or appearance has been significantly altered as a result of being under artificial selection by humans for multiple generations (see the main article on domestication for more information).
The key activities of cultivated plant taxonomy relate to classification and naming (nomenclature).The rules associated with naming plants are separate from the methods, principles or purposes of classification, except that the units of classification, the taxa, are placed in a nested hierarchy of ranks – like species within genera, and genera within families. [6]
An image of multiple chromosomes, taken from many cells. Plant genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity specifically in plants. [1] [2] It is generally considered a field of biology and botany, but intersects frequently with many other life sciences and is strongly linked with the study of information systems.
Humans have traded useful plants from distant lands for centuries, and plant hunters have been sent to bring plants back for cultivation. Human agriculture has had two important results: the plants most favoured by humans came to be grown in many places and (2) gardens and farms have provided some opportunities for plants to interbreed that would not have been possible for their wild ancestors.