Genetics today is in many ways the concern of another discipline of plant science, molecular biology. The basic chemical nature of genes and how they express themselves remained in question until the 1950's, when James Watson and Francis Crick developed the doublehelix model of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), explaining how genes occur in great variety, replicate (duplicate) themselves, and produce phenotypes (observable traits). Today, genetics is largely concerned with studying the chemical reactions that control DNA replication. Many researchers are also at work mapping the genomes (identifying the genes responsible for expressed characteristics) of various organisms. In 2001, researchers completed a map of the genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana as well as the more complex genome of the rice plant, Oryza sativa.
Molecular biology has many practical applications. Knowledge of the genetic control of cells has already resulted in new crop plants. The term "genetic engineering" indicates that plants can be designed for specific purposes.
See also: Related Disciplines, Economic Botany, Pale botany
|
