3 ms·

If you read the article they say the specific Agave that they linked to using DNA analysis.

boomboomsubban 5y ago
From the paper > The similarity search showed 89% identity with the partial sequence of the plastid locus maturase of Agave sisalana
- treis 5y ago
  89% isn't very similar though.
kortex 5y ago
Species doesn't mean as much in the plant world. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kohlrabi, and gai lan are all Brassica oleracea. You can have specimens that are even technically the same cultivar but wildly different alimentary character.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  TIL that the vegetable aisle has half the species I thought it did.
  - Ericson2314 5y ago
    I think napa cabbage and a few others are also all the "other" brassica.
  - kortex 5y ago
    Oh yeah. Brassica rapa has your turnip, napa cabbage, bok choy and rapini/rabes. Brassica napus gives canola oil, swedish turnip, and rutabaga. Mustard comes from B. juncea, B. nigra and B. hirta. Also those species names aren't really even guaranteed to be accurate because biologists, botanists, geneticists, etc, can't even really agree on where to draw the line. There's a whole genre of Brassica memes and it's fantastic. https://mobile.twitter.com/faineg/status/1386522223901618177?lang=en https://mobile.twitter.com/faineg/status/1386522223901618177...
- danwills 5y ago
  Hooray!! I totally love the way 'Brassica' vegetables provide such a vivid illustration of the amazing variety that some selection-pressure can yield on the development of essentially a single type of input organism. Makes you wonder what might happen when these types of selection-pressures start affecting humankind more!
  - galangalalgol 5y ago
    Brassica and domesticated dogs diversified because of controlled breeding. Unless you get a bunch of totalitarian eugenicists with differing goals, I dont know how this could happen with people.
    - PhasmaFelis 5y ago
      I could imagine it happening if interstellar colonization ever becomes a thing, maybe.
garmaine 5y ago
The DNA analysis didn’t identify the exact variety.

From the paper > The similarity search showed 89% identity with the partial sequence of the plastid locus maturase of Agave sisalana

treis 5y ago
89% isn't very similar though.

kortex 5y ago

Species doesn't mean as much in the plant world. Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kohlrabi, and gai lan are all Brassica oleracea. You can have specimens that are even technically the same cultivar but wildly different alimentary character.

MattGaiser 5y ago
TIL that the vegetable aisle has half the species I thought it did.
- Ericson2314 5y ago
  I think napa cabbage and a few others are also all the "other" brassica.
- kortex 5y ago
  Oh yeah. Brassica rapa has your turnip, napa cabbage, bok choy and rapini/rabes. Brassica napus gives canola oil, swedish turnip, and rutabaga. Mustard comes from B. juncea, B. nigra and B. hirta. Also those species names aren't really even guaranteed to be accurate because biologists, botanists, geneticists, etc, can't even really agree on where to draw the line. There's a whole genre of Brassica memes and it's fantastic. https://mobile.twitter.com/faineg/status/1386522223901618177?lang=en https://mobile.twitter.com/faineg/status/1386522223901618177...
danwills 5y ago
Hooray!! I totally love the way 'Brassica' vegetables provide such a vivid illustration of the amazing variety that some selection-pressure can yield on the development of essentially a single type of input organism. Makes you wonder what might happen when these types of selection-pressures start affecting humankind more!
- galangalalgol 5y ago
  Brassica and domesticated dogs diversified because of controlled breeding. Unless you get a bunch of totalitarian eugenicists with differing goals, I dont know how this could happen with people.
  - PhasmaFelis 5y ago
    I could imagine it happening if interstellar colonization ever becomes a thing, maybe.

garmaine 5y ago

The DNA analysis didn’t identify the exact variety.