BIOL 114: The Effect of Overcrowding on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Location
Turner Gymnasium
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Presentation Type
Printed poster
Entry Number
13
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
In this experiment we replicated the conditions of overcrowding and performed overcrowding in this experiment by placing eight seeds per pot instead of four. This can help simulate the effects of overcrowding in a controlled environment so no other factors are deemed to be at fault besides the effects of competing for the same resources when seeds are planted too closely together. This experiment tested the effect of overcrowding environmental conditions on growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. We planted a mutant line of Arabidopsis thaliana 68673 and will compare it to the growth of the wild type. The seeds were planted with standard potting soil and perlite and grown for four weeks. The seeds were either planted four to a pot or eight to a pot. As a result of this experiment, the wild type crowded plants had significantly fewer leaves than the uncrowded plants. The mutant plants had significantly fewer leaves than the wild type plants but crowding did not affect the mutant plants, the gene did. We can assume that the mutant gene might be resisting the Arabidopsis thaliana to crowding. This is important because overcrowding can cause lower crop yields affecting food production. Understanding the appropriate distance of crops and plants will help farmers and gardeners improve plant and crop growth ensuring high outcomes.
Primary Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Erin Friedman
Primary Faculty Mentor(s) Department
Biology
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BIOL 114: The Effect of Overcrowding on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Turner Gymnasium
In this experiment we replicated the conditions of overcrowding and performed overcrowding in this experiment by placing eight seeds per pot instead of four. This can help simulate the effects of overcrowding in a controlled environment so no other factors are deemed to be at fault besides the effects of competing for the same resources when seeds are planted too closely together. This experiment tested the effect of overcrowding environmental conditions on growth in Arabidopsis thaliana. We planted a mutant line of Arabidopsis thaliana 68673 and will compare it to the growth of the wild type. The seeds were planted with standard potting soil and perlite and grown for four weeks. The seeds were either planted four to a pot or eight to a pot. As a result of this experiment, the wild type crowded plants had significantly fewer leaves than the uncrowded plants. The mutant plants had significantly fewer leaves than the wild type plants but crowding did not affect the mutant plants, the gene did. We can assume that the mutant gene might be resisting the Arabidopsis thaliana to crowding. This is important because overcrowding can cause lower crop yields affecting food production. Understanding the appropriate distance of crops and plants will help farmers and gardeners improve plant and crop growth ensuring high outcomes.