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Genetically modified aquatic plants (Discussion)

DutchMuch

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I was doing random research and reading on some things about genetic modification to plants in general...

Then i read this:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3394238/
and to give you a sum up of what that link has to do with any aquatic.. anything, is that "Yea fertilizers get into the 'aquatic ecosystems' and do stuff"
That's the summary of the article so don't bother but it inspired me to think for a moment.

Have any aquatic plants been genetically modified before? i never really thought about it. Lets say some where, most likely for agricultural pursuits. But lets think besides that, what would you genetically modify about a aquatic plant? Less nutrient intake with the same growth rates? im not sure if that is a thing but im sure it could be in 2026. I think aquatic plants in the current day and age, carry the interest of people who desire to Mix them up and make new varieties rather than doing this... (if it can even be done)


Not sure, i know i'm kind of blabbing here and not making sense but i'd be interested in seeing some of your thoughts on this topic in general.
 
Plants often have their ploidy count altered by selective breeding (get plants that may not hybridize naturally to cross pollinate, or by damaging their genetic structure with chemicals or radiation as well as the more reliable methods of genetic engineering that are being used today. Simple buttercups have 5 petals but by altering their ploidy count you can get 10 petal flowers. Double petal flowers are popular with gardeners. The aquatic plant trade is very small compared with the terrestrial plant trade: agriculture; horticulture; ornamental plants etc.

So our aquatic plants with changed ploidy count invariably come from sharp eyed plant breeders who have found naturally occurring ploidy variations. There is a 'double leafed' Cryptocoryne which has been on the market for several years.

Cell culture is very widely used to mass produce new varieties of plants and technology quickly cascades down, only time will tell if modern genetic engineering will produce easy to grow 'difficult' plants.
 
Plants such as Eleocharis Acicularis sp. Mini seem to have been selectively bred for desirable traits. I'm not sure if other plants aimed at aquarists are the same, eg. AR mini, Ludwigia Mini Super Red and Anubias Petite, but it wouldn't surprise me.
 
I saw some reputedly "genetically modified" black widows that glowed pink and yellow under blue light.
its funny you say that, it reminded me of this Really cool i believe... crab? or underwater spider? its pretty small
that glows Bright light blue under water to attract prey! I cannot remember the name, doing a quick google search i cant find it. Its apparently pretty rare in the wild, that plus its small so it makes it automatically harder to come across. This one is Not genetically modified but nature has its ways of making things interesting!
 
Hi all,
Plants such as Eleocharis Acicularis sp. Mini seem to have been selectively bred for desirable traits. I'm not sure if other plants aimed at aquarists are the same, eg. AR mini, Ludwigia Mini Super Red and Anubias Petite, but it wouldn't surprise me.
That's it, there is genetic variation within a species, which if you propagate them from seed will lead to a range of plants with differing characteristics growing. People have collected wild plants (with desirable characteristics) for millennia, originally for agriculture and subsequently for ornament. From this variation you can select for the plants with characteristics you like (red leaves or more compact habit etc.) in cultivation and you can then breed these together until you fix the characteristics that you like.

In animals, where you can't easily use asexual propagation, that is how you get domestic dogs (<"Canis lupus familiaris">) bred from Wolves (C. lupus lupus) and "Crystal Red" shrimps bred from wild type Bee shrimps. Artificial selection is a lot quicker than natural selection, but this is the <"Ancestral Elephant to Mammoth"> evolution route via the differential survival of larger, hairier Elephants, with smaller ears, as the cold intensified.

The Crystal Red shrimp is probably more relevant to the discussion of plants, because I think it was originally a single mutation a single erythristic shrimp. To breed a whole strain of shrimps needs both luck and time, but it is much easier with a plant mutation, where you can clone a favourable mutation (via cuttings or tissue culture).

Some improved cultivars will be mutations that have been vegetatively propagated, and some will be varieties that have been bred by traditional plant breeding.
So our aquatic plants with changed ploidy count invariably come from sharp eyed plant breeders who have found naturally occurring ploidy variations
Tetraploids (4n) often <"show extra vigour">, and so do some hybrids, they have "hybrid vigour".

cheers Darrel
 
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I saw some reputedly "genetically modified" black widows that glowed pink and yellow under blue light.

These are trademarked "GloFish". If memory serves it's utilising a gene taken from jellyfish. They have developed a number of colours now and messed with zebra danios, black widows, tiger barbs and I believe ruby sharks. They are banned in Europe but popular in Asia and America.
 
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