Bio 114: The Effect of Clay On Arabidopis thaliana Growth and Development
Location
Turner Gymnasium
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Presentation Type
Printed poster
Entry Number
12
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
This study uses the Arabidopsis thaliana plant to investigate its resilience in harsh environments. Red clay soil is a nutrient-rich, restrictive soil that is high in mineral content. Although fertile, its denseness limits root development and can affect growth. Our goal is to find out if the Arabidopsis thaliana mutant gene has a mutation that responds to clay soil negatively or positively. It is hypothesized that Arabidopsis thaliana grown in this experiment will express a change when clay soil is added to the soil mixture. The goal of this experiment is to see the ultimate effect of clay soil on Arabidopsis with 25% clay to 75% miracle grow potting soil, 32 plants total. Results showed that the type of soil did not seem to cause a major change in growth; it was more so whether it was a mutant or wild type seed, the mutant behaved significantly differently from the wild type. We have learnt that clay soil doesn't negatively or positively affect the growth of the Arabidopsis thaliana plant. The mutant type seed had a harder time growing and ended the experiment smaller than both categories of wild type plants. The wild type seems to have had overall better growth throughout the 10-week experiment. We can conclude that the Arabidopsis plant's growth will not be negatively affected by the soil in which it germinates.
Primary Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Erin Friedman
Primary Faculty Mentor(s) Department
Biology
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Bio 114: The Effect of Clay On Arabidopis thaliana Growth and Development
Turner Gymnasium
This study uses the Arabidopsis thaliana plant to investigate its resilience in harsh environments. Red clay soil is a nutrient-rich, restrictive soil that is high in mineral content. Although fertile, its denseness limits root development and can affect growth. Our goal is to find out if the Arabidopsis thaliana mutant gene has a mutation that responds to clay soil negatively or positively. It is hypothesized that Arabidopsis thaliana grown in this experiment will express a change when clay soil is added to the soil mixture. The goal of this experiment is to see the ultimate effect of clay soil on Arabidopsis with 25% clay to 75% miracle grow potting soil, 32 plants total. Results showed that the type of soil did not seem to cause a major change in growth; it was more so whether it was a mutant or wild type seed, the mutant behaved significantly differently from the wild type. We have learnt that clay soil doesn't negatively or positively affect the growth of the Arabidopsis thaliana plant. The mutant type seed had a harder time growing and ended the experiment smaller than both categories of wild type plants. The wild type seems to have had overall better growth throughout the 10-week experiment. We can conclude that the Arabidopsis plant's growth will not be negatively affected by the soil in which it germinates.