The Effect of Salt Water on the Amount of Phosphorus in an Arabidopsis Plant By: Trinity and Tara

Hypothesis  If an Arabidopsis plant is watered with salt water, then the phosphorus level of the plant will decrease, leading to a color change and the drying of the plant.

Procedure  1.) Sort the rils and make labels  2.) Fill a 5 gallon bucket with 6 pounds dry soil  3.) Add 2000 mL of room temperature water to the 5 gallon bucket.  4.) Mix water and soil together until evenly mix (1 minute)  5.) Fill a 4 inch x 4 inch pot with 255 grams of dry soil  6.) Place about 5-10 seeds in each pot of soil and add labels  7.) Cover flats with tin foil and place in refrigerator  8.) Stratify for three days  9.) Place under designated grow light  10) Water with 50 mL tap water every other day  11.) Wait for first true leaf before manipulating variables  12.) Mix 500 mL of water with 17 grams of sea salt  13.) Water experimental group plants with 50mL of sea salt solution  14.) Water control group plants with 50mL of fresh water solution  15.) Rotate the pots  16.) Place control group plants on one half and the experimental group plants on the other half under the grow light  17.) Continue to water plants with their designated water solutions every two days.

Results  In our experiment, our hypothesis was null, because our experimental group did not grow well enough to be able to provide us with enough leaf to perform the phosphorus test with the spectrometer. However, we noticed that ril CL32 lived longer under the salty conditions than any other ril in the experimental group. It lived about a week longer. This could be due to experimental error, however, it is possible that there may be a gene in this ril that permits it to withstand toxic conditions for a longer period of time.

Conclusion  In our experiment, we tested how salt water affects the amount of phosphorus in an Arabidopsis plant. We hypothesized that if an Arabidopsis plant is watered with salt water, then the phosphorus level of the plant will decrease, leading to a color change and the drying of the plant. Our hypothesis was null, because our experimental group did not grow well enough to be able to provide us with enough leaf to perform the phosphorus test with the spectrometer. However, we noticed that ril CL32 lived longer under the salty conditions than any other ril in the experimental group. It lived about a week longer. This could be due to experimental error; however, it is possible that there may be a gene in this ril that permits it to withstand toxic conditions for a longer period of time. Further experimentation is needed on this ril in order to further support the idea that it may possibly contain a gene allowing it to withstand toxins for a longer period of time than its counterparts.

Survivor ril CL32

Real World Application  Further research on the surviving ril CL32 could provide further insight into bioremediation techniques. Halophytic and transgenic plants provide us with an all natural and safe way to remove toxic substances from soils. Ril CL32 may provide us with a gene that allows plants to survive under toxic conditions for an extended period of time and absorb toxic chemicals from soils and water, for example, in greenhouses and streams.