Newswise — May 7, 2019 – Spitting out watermelon seeds can be a summertime rite of passage for some folks. Others like their watermelons seedless. How did those seedless watermelons (and other plants) come about? The May 7th Sustainable, Secure Food blog explains the topic of polyploidy.
“Plants can have multiple sets of chromosomes, which is called polyploidy. Many of your favorite fruits and vegetables are polyploids,” says blogger and plant scientist, Christine Bradish, Ashland, Inc. “Polyploidy can occur naturally, where wild species 'add together' their DNA. Two good examples of this are wheat and strawberries.”
But, plant breeders can also develop work to develop crops without seeds – like seedless watermelons. Even bananas are seedless.
“Polyploidy is one more tool that scientists can use to learn about the genetics of crop plants,” says Bradish. To read the complete blog, visit Sustainable, Secure Food at https://sustainable-secure-food-blog.com/2019/05/07/polyploidy-or-how-do-we-get-seedless-fruit
This blog is sponsored and written by members of the American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America. Our members are researchers and trained, certified professionals in the areas of growing our world’s food supply, while protecting our environment. They work at universities, government research facilities, and private businesses across the United States and the world.
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