Water, Water, Everywhere A Study of Hypoxia on Strawberry and Arabidopsis Plants

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Water, Water, EverywhereA Study of Hypoxia on
Strawberry and Arabidopsis Plants
Patrick Brooks Oceana High School (Wyoming Co
unty) Gretchen Egbert Wirt County High Sc
hool
Robert Rohrssen Trinity High School (Mononga
lia County) Rebecca Dilley Pocahontas County
High School
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Research Questions

• Does the flooding of a plant and the resulting
  hypoxia (suffocation) cause a plant to increase
  its ethylene production?
  
• What are the negative effects of flooding that
  cause a plant to stop growing or die?

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Basic Procedures

• We flooded strawberries and Arabidopsis
• We kept some plants as controls
• We Collected Data on
• Ethylene Production
• Plant Growth and Appearance
• RNA Samples
• Electrophoresis
• PCR
• SEM and Light Microscopy

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Ethylene Production

• Ethylene is C2H4
• Gaseous Plant Hormone
• Colorless, Odorless
• Shows Plant Stress Levels
• Growth and Development Regulator
• Measured by a Gas Chromatograph

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Strawberry The Plant that was flooded the longest
amount of time produced the most ethylene
Arabidopsis There is no exact pattern for ethylen
e production in the Arabidopsis plants
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Strawberry Growth
Control
Flooded
1 day
14 days
Leaves were only slightly smaller on the flooded
plants.
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Arabidopsis Growth
Flooded
Control
1 day
13 days
Leaves were only slightly smaller on the flooded
plants.
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PCR Analysis
Flooded
Control

• Polymerase Chain Reaction
• Uses RNA to replicate DNA segments then copies
  DNA
  
• Often used in DNA fingerprinting and disease
  identification
  
• We used it to determine if flooding causes
  certain changes in a plants genes
  

Our samples
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Strawberry SEM Images
Leaf Surface (X2000)
Leaf Surface (X5000)
Stomata (X1000)
Curly Things (X1500)
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Strawberry SEM Images
Wax Cuticle (X200)
Leaf Object (X2000)
Wax Cuticle (X1000)
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Arabidopsis SEM Images
Whole Leaf (X50)
Root (X350)
Leaf Trichome (X750)
Root (X1500)
Leaf Surface (X3500)
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Strawberry Microscopy
Strawberry Leaf Images
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Arabidopsis Microscopy
Arabidopsis Trichome (Hair) Images
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Conclusions

• There were no definite patterns for ethylene
  production in our samples.
  
• There were no drastic changes in plant size or
  growth however, the flooded plants became
  slightly smaller.
  
• The flooded plants showed slight decrease in gene
  expression.
  
• Hypoxia does not measurably affect plants over a
  very short period of time.

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Acknowledgements

• Dr. Marcia Harrison
• GHA Instructor
• Justin Hogan
• Faculty Assistant
• David Neff
• (a.k.a. SEM guy)
• Dr. Nicola LoCascio
• (a.k.a. DNA lady)

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Group Photos
Patrick Actually Working
Rocky (Arabidopsis)
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