Natural selection is usually understood in the context of change. When organisms deviate from the norm, they may gain advantages that let their lineages outlast those of their less-adaptable relatives.
, but the plant is also a highly damaging weed in agriculture, especially in wheat fields in Australia and the southeastern United States.
To reveal the conservative potential of natural selection, a research team led by Michigan State University focused on stamen length in wild radishes. In nature, wild radishes have both long and short stamens as seen in the photo on the left. But through artificial selection, the researchers pushed the lengths closer to equal, as seen in the photo on the right. Credit:This trait or feature is also shared widely across wild radish's nearly 4,000 relatives in the mustard family.
To evaluate the influence of selection and constraint on this family's distinctive stamen trait, the team turned to what's called artificial selection. That is, they selectively bred wild radishes whose stamens were closer to the same length to try to change that characteristic. Not only did the trait respond, it did so very quickly. The team reduced the stamen length difference by more than 30% during the experiments.
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