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Plant DNA

aka psuedonymaka psuedonym Posts: 3
in Plants

I've googled this a lot but failed to find an answer - an understandable one anyway!

But hopefully the combined knowledge on here will prove greater, more comprehensive, more understandable, and easier to access than the "out there" stuff.

What I want to know is whether a cutting - of any plant - will always have the exact same DNA as the plant it was taken from?

As a simplistic example: if I have a male holly tree (which I have), is there any chance that if I took and propagated a dozen cuttings that one (or six) of them would be female?

I'm remote - up a Welsh mountain and three quarters of a mile to the nearest "neighbour" - so what happens in my garden tends to be down to me and the bees.

I really hope someone knows the answer to this!

 

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  • sanjy67sanjy67 Posts: 1,007

    i don't know the answer but i would guess that they would be the same as the plant they were taken from, effectively a 'clone' of the original as it has nothing else to make it a female. A bit like 'dolly' the sheep wouldn't come out a male sheep. i'm sure someone in the know will be along shortly

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Yes, a cutting has the same DNA, it's a clone. You won't get a female from a male. Have you checked the flowers on your holly to make sure they are male? could be a female with no pollinatorimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Steve the Gardening VetSteve the Gardening Vet Posts: 1,629

    Genetically there is no other option. You are using material from only one source so as others have said, the DNA would be identical. This allows for rapid creation of new organisms but means that they wll would be succeptible to the same diseases.

     

    Sexual reproduction, or at least mixing of genetic material from at least two sources is needed for variance in genotype.

  • Reluctant_GardenerReluctant_Gardener Posts: 284

    Yes it will inherit the sex of the parent.

     

     

  • aka psuedonymaka psuedonym Posts: 3

    Thank you natcutlet - although it wasn't what I wanted to hear!

    Yes - it's male.  It was planted in 1857 (I have documentation amazingly!) as it was the custom then to plant hollies near to houses as lightning conductors/deflectors.  When they went the the Michaelmas market they took a cow and returned with a tree - it was traditional.  And it was proper, knowledgeable, natural thinking because it was actually stuck by lightning in 1956 but only half the tree was zapped and none of the house.  It's about 45ft high and 9ft girth at 3ft up - so it's big!  Should probably be listed.

    Unfortunately I'm above the natural holly growing height - all birch and rowan and sycamore "weeds" at my elevation - so from what you say I'd obviously need to go to market with a cow and return with a female one!  (Holly that is.)

    But my question wasn't only about the holly - I have other stuff which needs an opposite sex plant for propagation.  Odd I couldn't find the answer to it on google though.

     

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039

    The other thing about cuttings is, that they are of course genetically the same age as the parent and so will often grow quicker, than growing from seed.

    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • aka psuedonymaka psuedonym Posts: 3

    Thank you all those who have replied - I thought it'd be better than google!

     

  • WoodsieWoodsie Posts: 61

    I would agree with all of the above in that you will never get a female plant from cuttings of a male plant.  One exception would be in the case of variegated plants which have arisen because of a mutation in the plant's DNA.  Breeders then propagate these from cuttings to produce identical plants with variegated leaves.  However, sometimes, "reversion" occurs which means that some shoots of the plant turn all green again.  This is because (it is thought) some of these mutations are unstable and just one part of the plant becomes affected.  In effect, therefore, you will have a single plant which has different DNA in different parts!  Typically, if you do not cut out all the green shoots, the whole plant reverts back to normal as the leaves / shoots with more chlorophyll will grow faster and out compete the variegated ones.  Hope all that makes sense!

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138
    aka psuedonym wrote (see)

    Thank you all those who have replied - I thought it'd be better than google!

     

    We are - much much better than Google image

    image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    We certainly are. We understand the questionimage



    In the sticks near Peterborough
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