TED-ED: Why are there so many types of apples? - Theresa Doud

The video explores the vast diversity of apple varieties, highlighting the role of fruit breeding in creating new cultivars. It explains the process of selecting parent apples, cross-pollination, and growing seedlings, emphasizing the patience required to achieve desired traits. The video details the evaluation of seedlings, the formation of cultivars, and the grafting process to propagate new apple trees. Finally, it discusses the importance of naming and patenting new apple varieties, ensuring breeders' rights over their creations.

What is the primary reason for the vast diversity of apple varieties?

• Natural evolution

• Genetic mutations

• Climate change

• Human efforts in breeding

What is the process called when pollen is transferred from one bloom to another?

• Grafting

• Hybridization

• Self-pollination

• Cross-pollination

Approximately how many seedlings out of 5,000 are selected for further evaluation?

• 500

• 100

• 10

• 1

What is the purpose of grafting in apple breeding?

• To speed up the growth process

• To increase the size of apples

• To ensure an exact copy of the cultivar

• To enhance the color of apples

Why is naming a new apple variety important?

• It helps in marketing the apple

• It grants breeders rights over the apple

• It makes the apple more appealing to consumers

• It differentiates the apple from other fruits