The Effects of Oil Contamination on Development of Arabidopsis Matt Steelman, Josh Fester, Tinus Van Wyk, and Nicole Sowers Wofford College, South Carolina Introduction Results Discussion Some Arabidopsis ecotypes such as those from Ireland and Bulgaria are known to grow on roadsides where petroleum runoff could affect their growth. In an experiment using just phenanthrene as the pollutant, the Arabidopsis plants were shown to be negatively affected. We desired to perform a similar experiment using basic petroleum to see the effect of this on plants in our world today. This desire is based on the real-world problem that is pollution. Germination Overall, germination was unaffected by increased concentration of oil dissolved in the agar (p=0.667, χ2 with 6 degrees of freedom = 4.08). The results of our experiment served to support our alternate hypothesis that an increased concentration of oil in the agar would stunt the growth of the root. Although there was a small increase in growth from 0% oil to 0.1% oil, this increase is not significant enough to disprove the alternate hypothesis. Implications of This Experiment The results of this experiment provide large implications for the natural world. Today, society deals with multiple forms of pollution which are destructive to the world we live in. This experiment shows that pollution in the soil due to oil spills, emissions, etc., will prove detrimental to plant life on earth. Therefore, we must find ways to avoid significant use of oil and, if nothing else, to prevent disasters such as oil spills from occurring within our society. Future Experiments We recommend that future experiments find a more effective way to measure the root such as taking it out of the agar. Also, the experimenter must make sure that light is evenly distributed to each agar plate. The next step to this experiment could be to find the lethal concentration of oil for this plant. Root Growth Overall, root growth in the plant decreased as the concentration of oil in the agar increased (p=0.001, Analysis of Variance FdF= 3, 70 = 6.054 Hypothesis The Addition of petroleum into the agar for Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype Columbia will significantly stunt the growth of the plant’s root. Root Growth vs. Concentration Methods In order to complete this experiment, we will need the following items: Four agar plates such as used in our lab over the past two weeks 1. 8 agar plates 2. 40 Arabidopsis (ecotype- Columbia) seeds 3. 5w-30 motor oil 4. Image J Software 5. Agar 6. Fluorescent Grow Lights Prior to the actual planting of the Arabidopsis, we had to mix 0.01%, 0.1%, and 1% petroleum in agar. We used these concentrations to see how growth is affected by the amount of pollution present in the soil. We limited the highest concentration to 1% in order to lower the risk of potential destruction of the plant entirely. Once this was done, we planted 10 seeds of Arabidopsis in each of four agar plates. We planted these seeds at the upper edge of the agar on each of the plates. The seeds were planted in a horizontal line , and the plates were sealed and placed vertically beneath grow lights throughout the experiment. One plate acted as the control group, and the other three had the variant concentrations of the petroleum product. Each of the plates had equal photoperiods, which were 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness. We produced this light cycle by setting a timer for the fluorescent light in the lab. We allowed them to germinate and mature over a period of two weeks and we measured the length of the shoots each week. The root length was measured using Image J software. These measurements provided the results for our experiment. Acknowledgements Special thanks to Dr. Davis and Dr. Abercrombie for their assistance. Also, thanks to Andy Steadman and Thomas Player. References 1) Lui, Hong. “An oxidative stress response to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure is rapid and complex in Arabidopsis thaliana.” Plant Science: Vol. 176 Issue 3 March 2009 pg. 375-382.