Ikigai Daily
WonderPlant genetics biography1,932 of 1,961

Janaki Ammal used cytogenetics and hybridization to help breed sugarcane suited to Indian conditions, while advancing the study of chromosome numbers in cultivated plants.

Counting chromosomes for a sweeter crop

BiologyFoodBiography

Why it matters

The idea in context

India once relied heavily on imported sugar despite growing extensive cane, because many local plants had lower sugar content. At Coimbatore, Ammal studied wild and cultivated relatives and used their chromosome patterns to guide crosses adapted to the climate. Her later atlas with C. D. Darlington turned chromosome counts into a reference map for plant breeding around the world.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Janaki Ammal, Hindistan koşullarına uygun şeker kamışı çeşitlerinin geliştirilmesine sitogenetik ve melezleme yoluyla katkı sağladı; kültür bitkilerinin kromozom sayılarına ilişkin bilgiyi ilerletti.
Daha tatlı bir ürün için kromozom saymak

Hindistan geniş ölçekte kamış yetiştirdiği hâlde birçok yerli bitkinin şeker oranı düşük olduğu için bir dönem ithalata bağımlıydı. Ammal, Coimbatore'da yabani ve kültüre alınmış akrabaları inceledi; kromozom örüntülerini iklime uyumlu çaprazlamalara rehber yaptı. Daha sonra C. D. Darlington ile hazırladığı atlas, kromozom sayılarını dünya bitki ıslahı için bir başvuru haritasına dönüştürdü.

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Background reading: Janaki AmmalAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
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