In this instance they tested 4 separate plants of Phrag kovachii and the
resultant DNA sequences were all the same. Wouldn't there have been some
sort of difference in their DNA if they were individuals? I'm thinking they
tested 4 plants that were pieces of one original plant. Some Phrags will
make separate plantlets along one long rhizome, like besseae for example.
I'm wondering if all kovachiis aren't really from one plant, that they are
a clone - like what happens with sea anemones. (Sorry, that's what I have my
degree in, so that's what I fall back on)

K Barrett

"James Aldridge" wrote in message
...
The basic idea is to use an enzyme (restriction enzyme) to cut the
organism's DNA strands at particular base sequence (ATGC...) regions.
The resulting pieces are placed on a gel and an electrical field is
applied to the gel causing the pieces to move across the gel at pacing
that varies with fragment size. After awhile, the various fragments
form separate bands that can be compared to other sample.

The possibility of having two digestion results that match that are
not in truth identical is low. Refinements of this technique, and
other evidence, bring the mismatch rate even lower.

Jim
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James Aldridge - Fort Worth, Texas, USA
www.JamesAldridge.com -