MadSci Network: Genetics |
Dear Francine Don't be worried about this, all your teacher wants you to do is to make cuttings of the African Violet. They are clones because they are genetically identical to the original parent plant. You can find pretty good instructions, and some more information about African Violets at this site and there are lots of others that a search on the web will find. To prove that the DNA is identical is a little more difficult and requires access to a laboratory and some pretty expensive equipment. I don't know whether you are expected actually to do this yourself. I found some information about kits available for schools here and there's an indication of how you would use restriction enzymes to examine the DNA of parent and clones (DNA fingerprinting - Admin note) here. I hope that helps Jeremy Admin note: You can prove that the clone is identical to the parent using DNA fingerprinting. This involves extracting the DNA from both plants, and cutting it with an enzyme that produces a different pattern of cutting (fingerprint)in different DNA sequences. If the pattern of cutting is exactly the same, then its likely that the two individuals are the same. More about DNA fingerprinting: RFLP analysis
How does DNA fingerprinting work...?
Good luck!
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Genetics.