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Leaf morphology and adaptations to conditions
Can you help me design an investgation to find out the 'effect of light on the rate of transpiration in a named plant'?
I am keen on using a mass potometer as I have heard that they measure the actual rate of transpiration and not uptake as with a standard potometer which is what I want to try and avoid.
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Function of the cotyledons
What is the function of the cotyledon in monocot seeds? I assume that monocots have hypogeal germination. Why are cotyledons present at all in seeds which undergo hypogeal germination?
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Lignin
Is lignin indigestible to most herbivores even those with symbiotic organisms?
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Xylem
What is the advantage of the xylem being uppermost in the leaf vein - facing the upper epidermis?
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Privet leaves under the microscope - unexpected findings
A sixth form student looking at Ligustrum TS leaf saw something odd in some of the upper epidermal cells, but not all of them. The palisade layer beneath showed the nuclei clearly, they had been stained red. We could also see nuclei in some of the epidermal cells but in addition, and looking quite different, were masses of circular, deep red bodies. The nearest thing I can liken them to is clumped red blood cells!!
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Diploidy and polar bodies
In the formation of the female gamete in plants, how do the polar bodies end up being diploid? We were taught that the sporogeneous cell undergoes meiosis and gives 4 haploid cells. one of these divides thrice mitotically to give 8 egg nuclei including 2 polar bodies. this doesn't explain how the polar bodies are diploid.
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Nuclei in plant cells
How do you explain the differences in the apparent shapes and positions of the nuclei in different cells?
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Evapotranspiration measurement
How can one assess the evapotranspiration rate of a whole plant (tree) or a whole forested area with a known surface area? And futher, how can one calculate the net water balance ot the whole area?
(We are trying to remediate a Cr-contaminated landfill by planting it with woody vegetation in order to phytostabilize the dumpsite and reduce the toxic effluent via evapotranspiration.)
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Phyllotaxy on rapid cycling brassicas
Is rapid cycling brassica BOTH left and right spiralling in its phyllotaxy?
From limited observation of old stems I think it is. Is it genetically or epigenetically or stochastically determined?
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Vascular bundles in dicots
What is the advantage for a dicot to have the vascular bundles arranged in a ring towards the outside of the stem, instead of in a central cylinder, as in the root?
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