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Did you know that beyond Fast Plants (rapid-cycling Brassica rapa) there are rapid-cycling varieties of other Brassica species? Enter the fascinating world of Brassica oleracea! Bred at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by Professor Paul Williams, rapid-cycling Brassica oleracea were initially developed for Brassica disease resistance research. While they’ve played important roles in research, their educational potential has yet to be fully explored. Our mission? To refine a classroom-friendly population of rapid-cycling Brassica oleracea. What's the most exciting part of this project? This line of Brassicas may have the potential to demonstrate genetic linkage, a concept not easily taught with Wisconsin Fast Plants! Genetic linkage, a phenomenon where neighboring genes on a chromosome tend to be inherited together, challenges Gregor Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment (which claims genes are inherited independently). Importantly, genetic linkage is an exception to Mendel’s law. While Wisconsin Fast Plants are terrific for teaching Mendelian inheritance, we have yet to discover any easily observable, linked traits in Fast Plants. Yet... |
