Adjusting Soil Ph

Speeding up evolution: Orchid epigenetics

Ovidiu Paun, Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, investigates how epigenetic information - heritable signals outside the DNA - influences the development of orchids. The photos show Dactylorhiza Traunsteineri growing in Yorkshire, Great Britain

Organisms adapt to their dynamic environment using various strategies. Ovidiu Paun, working at the Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, investigates how marsh orchids adjust to and diffuse in different habitats. Initial results have suggested that the future isn't as bleak as one would have expected: Variation in epigenetic information, recently detected as heritable signals outside the DNA, enables plants to adapt quickly to environmental changes.

Epigenetics is the study of heritable signals not encoded in the DNA sequence: "That widely extends what we have assumed until now, namely that outside the DNA there is no heritable information. Very recently we started to learn that there are other important heritable mechanisms within the cell that have an influence on a plant's development and traits", project leader Ovidiu Paun explains. Epigenetic signals can basically modify gene expression patterns and they are part of the response mechanisms of an individual to its environment. It's understood that those signals have a significant impact on the process of translating genetic information into the phenotype, hence on the characteristics of an organism.

Epigenetics and environmental issues

"Those signals are able to change fast and on a wider scale, whereas genetic information takes much longer to mutate. This is why epigenetic investigations connect well to environmental issues like climate change ", the scholar continues. One of those epigenetic mechanisms is the methylation of DNA, a simple chemical modification which results in reduced activity or even silencing (inactivation) of a certain gene. "This regulatory mechanism has been compared to the interpretation of a piece of music: You have the same score, but one musician plays it differently to the other", Paun says.

In a nutshell: The evolution of flowering plants

At several times during plant evolution a whole genome duplication occurred, meaning that a cell's nucleus subsequently possesses double the number of genes. Hence the resulting genomes contain so called redundant genes – copies that carry out a similar function. Over evolutionary time the redundant copies diverge and are able to acquire new functions – this is one key way for plants to evolve and become more and more complex. All flowering plants have had such duplication events in their history. The more recent polyploid organisms don't inherit just one chromosome set from their mother and one from their father, but two or even more chromosome sets from each parent. As epigenetic signals are able to switch different copies of genes on and off, they have a wider "playground" in polyploid plants.

Adjusting Soil pH for Optimal Grass increase | Grass Seed ...

First of all, you need to do a soil test to find out the pH value. You can do this in two ways. The first is to buy a do-it-yourself soil pH test kit at any nursery near you and ensue the instructions provided by the kit. The ensue is not very trustworthy but it is sufficient to give you an approximate pH value.

The other way is to let a soil test lab do the test for you. Obviously this is more costly than the first option but the ensue is much more complete and reliable. Moreover, the lab ensue often contains much more data about your soil and not just the pH value. A good lab record will also advise you the healthful action to take if the test recapitulate any possible problems with your lawn.

If your soil has a pH value under 6.5, it is too acidic and you have to add ground limestone to bring it back into balance. If it is over 7.5, it is alkaline and you have to add soil sulfur.

To find out how much sulfur or limestone you need to add to your soil, obtain a soil chart from any soil laboratory, lawn and gardening centers or cooperative extension offices. The scale is usually based on pounds of material to add per 1,000 quadrilateral feet. Thus it is imperative that you know the size of your lawn. If you have not done so, portion your lawn’s distance and width with a measuring tape. Multiply the two figures to get the quadrilateral footage of your lawn.

Once you know the estimate of sulfur or limestone required, use a drop spreader to apply these materials. A drop spreader is not costly and will help your spread the materials evenly on your lawn. It can also be used to spread fertilizers. So invest in one if you have not done so.

You may have to apply sulfur or limestone on a regular basis in order to keep your soil pH in balance. Sometimes, applying both sulfur and limestone may be necessary. However, do exercise caution when applying sulfur as too much of it can burn your lawn. Break up the sulfur application over a few parts and apply them evenly will ensure that you have a pH balanced lawn for your grasses to thrive.

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