BIOL 114: The Effect of Blue Light on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Location
Turner Gymnasium
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Presentation Type
Printed poster
Entry Number
9
Start Date
4-16-2026 12:00 PM
End Date
4-16-2026 1:15 PM
School
School of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department
Biology
Keywords
Arabidopsis
Abstract
Studies have shown that phototropins in plants detect blue light emitted from the sun which triggers photosynthetic activity aiding in the growth and development of a plant. Plants are exposed to more natural blue light from 10am- 2pm, significantly in the winter, due to sun rays having a shorter distance to travel. Blue light typically aids in the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana by creating larger leaves and leaving the plants stocky. However, having mutant seeds of Arabidopsis Thaliana it is hypothesized that the mutant seeds grown in blue light will be negatively affected and not grow and develop compared to wild type Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. To measure these developments 16 pots were placed under a blue light (8 wild type 8 mutant), and 16 were placed under a control light (8 wild type 8 mutant). All plants were exposed to a 12hr light/dark cycle, with data collected once a week. Comparing the interaction of the wild type and mutant seeds to the control and blue light showed a slight significance with mutant and wild type plants growing fewer leaves under the blue light compared to the control(p=0.03216). There was little difference found on leaf production between the factor wild type and mutant seeds(p=0.6569), and between factor b of Blue light vs. control(p=0.05927).Therefore, this shows that blue light does play a role in plant growth, and further experiments further explain the exact role.
Primary Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Erin Friedman
Primary Faculty Mentor(s) Department
Biology
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BIOL 114: The Effect of Blue Light on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Turner Gymnasium
Studies have shown that phototropins in plants detect blue light emitted from the sun which triggers photosynthetic activity aiding in the growth and development of a plant. Plants are exposed to more natural blue light from 10am- 2pm, significantly in the winter, due to sun rays having a shorter distance to travel. Blue light typically aids in the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana by creating larger leaves and leaving the plants stocky. However, having mutant seeds of Arabidopsis Thaliana it is hypothesized that the mutant seeds grown in blue light will be negatively affected and not grow and develop compared to wild type Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. To measure these developments 16 pots were placed under a blue light (8 wild type 8 mutant), and 16 were placed under a control light (8 wild type 8 mutant). All plants were exposed to a 12hr light/dark cycle, with data collected once a week. Comparing the interaction of the wild type and mutant seeds to the control and blue light showed a slight significance with mutant and wild type plants growing fewer leaves under the blue light compared to the control(p=0.03216). There was little difference found on leaf production between the factor wild type and mutant seeds(p=0.6569), and between factor b of Blue light vs. control(p=0.05927).Therefore, this shows that blue light does play a role in plant growth, and further experiments further explain the exact role.