Succulent Flower Pollen vs. Day Lily Pollen

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Project Analysis

Our lab question was to find out if there is a difference between the pollen found in succulents and the pollen found in the common Day Lily. Our hypothesis was that the succulents would show the most similarity because of their similar climate and origin. After completing the SEM work, we found that while the two succulents shared a similar size and texture, the Day Lily and Christmas Cactus had a similar pollen shape (Day Lily was poliplicate, Christmas Cactus was tricolpate). Our Uniprot tree showed that the Day Lily and Christmas Cactus were more closely related then the two succulents.

Leica Microscope Proceedure

Prepare your sample, Day Lily, to be in cup that goes under the microscope.
After you put the Day Lily pollen into the cup, place under the microscope and use the computer screen to zoom in, edit, and clarify.
To capture the image, press the camera button, and do not move the cup or Day Lily pollen sample.
After capturing the image, save the image to your USB port using your initial, and sample name: Day Lily.
Repeat steps 1-4 for the Christmas Cactus, and the Pin Cushion Cactus.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Analysis of Phlylogenetic Tree

Our two trees do not agree. Originally, when we made our hypothetical tree we were going to Day Lily and Christmas cactus were more closely related, with more of a common ancestry. However, because the number of apertures and their size were similar, we went with Christmas Cactus and Pin Cushion Cactus being more closely related. We thought this because they had similar size, 58 micrometers, and 59 micrometers. They also had the same surface texture, Psilate.
However, we trust the 2nd tree more, because we do know that it's possible through convergent evolution that the Pin Cushion Cactus and Christmas Cactus do not share common ancestors, but they do look alike because they could have gone through similar situations to develop their characteristics.