Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• Budding amount and timing
• Flowering timing
• Disease resistance
• Salt tolerance
• Drought tolerance
• Freeze tolerance
Most growers, especially those working in the genetic sciences or those comfortable with
the idea of GMOs, would find the ability to tweak these particular traits to be very
desirable. What if there were a way to bring forth these qualities without going through
generationsofsuccessivebreedingordirectgeneticmanipulation?Withelectroculture,this
is a possibility.
In this section we are going to very briefly touch on the basics of microbiological genetics
as it relates to electro-horticulture and then move forward into the other effects that may
occur.
A High Level Primer
Let's start by talking briefly about how DNA works at a high level. Genes, or segments
of DNA, are molecular encodings that represent each and every aspect of a plant's innate
developmental and functional characteristics. Composed of various combinations or
sequencesofchemicalstructures,geneticinformationwithinDNAstrandsundergoaseries
of manipulations that allow them to express themselves into functional units. This occurs
via a three-step process:
1- Replication 2- Transcription 3- Translation
Replication is exactly what it sounds like: a duplication process.
Transcription is not so easy to describe. It refers to the process of transferring genetic code
within DNA into another molecular form called
RNA
. RNA refers to a set of biological
molecules that perform a number of vital roles within cells, like protein synthesis or
perhaps acting as the sensing or cellular communication controllers.
The last step, translation, refers to the protein synthesis role. As we covered earlier, one
functionaluseofproteinsistheirabilitytocontroltheflowofnutrientsintoandoutofcells
(using ion pumps and other regulatory proteins). Depending upon the type of protein that's
synthesized, they can do much more - such as becoming structural members, performing
