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17.01.2022 Tomorrow is National Tree Day

10.01.2022 At 'Micks Fruit Market' (name not changed to protect identity as there is usually no Mick) overripe and cheap fruit was a specialty. Mick had another specialty Drosophila. En masse they look like clouds of black dust. Before you knew it you were choking on them after inhaling a few dozen as you waved them aside to select your fruit. Known as vinegar or fruit flies (not to be confused with the horticultural pest) these little flies have sacrificed themselves in the trillions ...over the years for science. Pop into the time capsule back to 1900's and let's look at how these flies have shaped today's knowledge of the science of genetics. Thomas Hunt Morgan's work on D. melanogaster, the dark-bellied dew lover, evolved after he bred a mutant white eyed fly. He needed an organism that evolved fast so he could study hereditary. Day after day, over a period of five years, in a frugal lab, affectionately termed the 'fly room' in California in the US, Morgan and associates bred and counted progeny. The result of that work was a theory that chromosomes play an important role in gene inheritance. One that culminated in a nobel prize for this zany fly guy. See all the crazy mutant varieties of this poor insect here https://annex.exploratorium.edu//mutant/mutant_flies.htmlA See more

09.01.2022 Study raises concerns about prevalent orchid viruses In a Plants, People, Planet study, researchers investigated the evolution of the two most prevalent orchid viruses using information representing their global distribution. The study revealed that considerable international trade of cultivated orchids has effectively "homogenised" the genetic diversity of the viruses. ... In other words, the two viruses have displayed few genetic differences since their first emergence, across countries and host plants. The findings are concerning because these patterns are suggestive of rapid and regular international movement of orchids and their related pathogens. The rapid global dispersal of viruses not only has the potential to impact the lucrative orchid horticultural industry, it also threatens orchid species in the wild. "Global trade has opened the doors to regular and rapid movements of both plants and their pathogens. "Orchids are a highly threatened family and without better disease screening practice and phytosanitary regulation we may be placing wild populations at risk for unintentional spillover," said lead author Deborah J. Fogell, of the University of Kent, in the UK. ## PHOTO: Susan Fairbairn Dendrobium sp

08.01.2022 Vegebot harvesting lettuce

04.01.2022 Please help propagate the page by 'liking' and asking your friends to like. Trying to reach a 1,000 people. When we do I have three of Mim Beims book "Grow Your Own Medicine" to give away. Winners will be the people who got the most 'likes' Every time you add a friend please post the words 'done with the name of the person you added' in the comments below this post Thank you.... Susan Fairbairn and Plant Power the voice of plants.