[DIYbio] Re: Isolating sequences from scratch

I think that trying to address this from a genetics angle is really premature.

I'd start by checking the literature to see if anything at all is known about this phenomenon. Or failing that, if there is anyone who is working on this family of plants that you could contact for information.

Next, I would do some microscopy to figure out what exactly it is about these petal cells that makes them so different from ordinary white petals. Maybe learn how to do oil immersion microscopy, and how to stain different parts of the plant cell.

My first guess would be that this might be a mutation in the biosynthesis pathways for the waxy cuticle that normally coats leaves and petals and makes the surface hydrophobic. Just watching under a dissection microscope how droplets bead up (or don't) on the petals might tell you a lot already. If you know some people who work in a plant bio lab, you could even try to extract the cuticle from a batch of flowers and analyze its composition.

Once you have a better grasp of the physiological mechanism behind this phenomenon, it will be sooo much easier to figure out which genes are involved...

Patrik

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