All phases of gametophyte growth and differentiation, fertilization and early embryo development can be easily observed using low power microscopy. Extended culture and observations of the sporophyte phase can also be carried out. A wide variety of mutant strains are available ranging from striking visual types like polka dot to developmental mutants and types resistant to environmental stresses from agents such as herbicides and salt. They have been developed through 15 years of selective breeding to be used by teachers, students, and scientists in their classrooms and laboratories as living models for study. The basic stock will grow to be about 15 cm high at maturity.
Fast Plants are available in a wide variety of easily recognized phenotypes.
Fast Plants can be used for examining the expression and inheritance patterns for both discrete and continuously variable traits. Students will engage in phenotypic linkage mapping of various traits of their choice selected from the Fast Plant stock inventory. Data generated by students will serve as the basis for the building of a phenotypic linkage map for Brassica rapa. This system can be used to perform a wide variety of field and laboratory experiments, to make comparative studies at the levels of individuals, populations and communities, and to estimate the evolutionary relationships of organisms by using selected traits of a sample of spring-dwelling animal taxa. Nasonia Jack Werren, University of Rochester Nasonia is a small parasitic insect with features that make it an excellent organism for undergraduate research and teaching, particularly for genetics, evolution and ecology.