1.  Wofford College, South Carolina
The Effects of Drought on Arabidopsis Ecotypes  Hunter Soltis, Victor Makali, Allison Poole, and Lucy Monigle
 Wofford College, South Carolina 
Introduction
Results
Discussion
Arabidopsis is found in almost every part of the world. Arabidopsis ecotypes have adapted to thrive in local environment, with varying climates and precipitation. Does rainfall affect the growth of three Arabidopsis ecotypes? The ecotypes selected were determined by the amount of precipitation they receive. These ecotypes are: Zloc-1 from Bulgaria, NZ1 from Hamilton, New Zealand and Can-0, from the Canary Islands, Spain. The Zloc-1 plant has adapted to a temperate environment, with regular rainfall equal to about 65 centimeters per year ( The NZ1 plant has adapted to the high amounts of precipitation in its region, with more than cm per year ( while the Can-0 plant had adapted to thrive in a region with low precipitation, with average yearly rainfall rarely exceeding 25.4 cm ( If the plants from the different ecotypes are able to survive under drought conditions, then the durability and adaptability of the plant will be shown.
The experiment produced results that were similar between all groups, because of the conditions that were applied to the three different ecotypes. In the first week, the plants had similar growth because there was no difference in the soil, and the effects of the drought did not have a large effect, which was biologically unsurprising.
The second week was more biologically interesting, as the effects of both the drought conditions and the ecotypes demonstrate their adaptation to the environment and drought tolerance.
Our results supported the null hypothesis. The Arabidopsis was not negatively effected by drought conditions, but instead thrived under excess watering. Our results confirmed what is already known, that Arabidopsis can survive under diverse conditions.
For future studies, we recommend that this experiment be carried out for longer then two weeks. Drought plants should have been planted in a less water-saturated soil and watering conditions need to be consistent. Measurements for plants with irregular growth (bent or fallen) could have been taken using a string method.
Effect of Drought on Stem Growth of 3 Arabidopsis Ecotypes
Hypothesis
Simulated drought conditions will stunt stem growth in Arabidopsis.
The graph shows that stem growth was not negatively affected by drought conditions, but displayed an adaptability to varied conditions. Between the ecotypes, there was not much variability in growth, which was unexpected.
Methods
18 seeds of ecotype Can-0 were placed in the soil of each of two trays, tray C-1, and tray C-2. This was repeated for ecotype NZ1 into tray N-1 and tray N-2, as well as for ecotype Zloc-1 into tray Z-1 and tray Z-2. The seeds were germinated for 2-4 days under a photoperiod of 16hrs light/8hrs dark. Plants from N-1, Z-1, and C-1 were be the control group. They were watered every other day. Plants from N-2, C-2, and Z-2 were be under drought conditions, and were not be watered. All plants were kept under the same photoperiod of 16hrs light/8hrs dark, with the temperatures kept between 20° C and 25° C. Stem lengths were measured once a week with a caliper or measuring stick.
ANOVA; Effect of Drought on Stem Growth of 3 Arabidopsis Ecotypes
References
Acknowledgements
During the first week, condition and ecotype had little effect on stem growth. During the second week however, condition and ecotype had individual effects on the growth, and there was a significant difference in growth when both ecotype and condition are taken into account.
We would like to thank G.R. Davis, C. Abercrombie, their assistants T. Player and A. Steadman. Our class and the rest of the Biology Department!