I’m Looking Over a White-Striped Clover

Minnesota Habitat: The Minnesota habitat has cold winters and fairly warm summers. They do not receive much rain which therefore results in not having many herbivores in the population (not very many plants for them to eat). North Carolina Habitat: The North Carolina habitat has mild winters and very hot summers. They receive much more rain yearly which is why they have many more herbivores in the habitat compared to the Minnesota habitat which has barely any herbivores.

a. The two gene products are stored in different parts of the cell so it is not as easy to activate the cyanide. Since the cyanide requires two gene products to work if they are stored in different areas it is harder to get the two and therefore activate the powerful poison. Only under certain conditions will cyanide be activated.

b. One of the ways that the two products could come together to make an active CN is when there is below freezing temperature, the plant cell membranes can burst. Then the two gene products will come together which will produce the cyanide. Another way is in the process of eating a leaf. When a herbivore eats a leaf they destroy the membranes and organelles of the cells that make up the leaf.

c. A reason that clovers might produce cyanide is so that they can protect themselves against the herbivores (they don’t get eaten), because the herbivores will see that they are poisonous and they will not eat them. The negative side of this is that if the herbivores don’t eat them their seeds will not spread which will result in little reproduction of the leaves.

d. Cyanide-producing clovers may produce stripes so the herbivores would not eat them. Without the stipes the herbivores do not know that they are poisonous and they would get eaten much more.

e. Snails will eat plain leaves that have no stripes. However they will not eat clovers with stripes on them. They also will not eat striped leaves and plain leaves with white stripes on them.

Temperature: The colder and the longer the winters are means there is a shorter growing season. Therefore the organisms have a smaller chance of surviving and passing on their genes to the offspring.