BIOL 114: The Effect of A Cold Snap on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Location
Turner Gymnasium
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Presentation Type
Printed poster
Entry Number
17
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
ABSTRACT:
As global warming continues to cause unpredictable weather patterns, plants are increasingly exposed to multifactorial stress combinations, such as sudden cold snaps that can lead to crop failure. This experiment uses a model organism, Arabidopsis thaliana, to study how the mutant cax-1 affects a plant's ability to handle these temperature shifts during the sensitive germination stage. To test this, both wild-type and mutant seeds were stratified in 0.1% agarose at 4°C for three days before being planted in a 1:1 soil-perlite mix. Two weeks after germination, half of the plants (8 wild-type and 8 mutant) were moved to an Enviro-gene chamber and exposed to a 4°C "cold snap" for one week, while the control groups remained in standard growing conditions (16h light/8h dark). Growth and germination data were recorded to see if the cax-1 mutation hindered the plant’s natural cold-acclimation signaling. Results showed that the wild type plants have grown more compared to the mutant type in both conditions. The cold snap had reduced the growth rate of both groups (wild and mutant type).There was no significant difference between the wild-type and mutant rosette diameter. However, there was a significant difference between the bolt height in the cold snap versus the controlled conditions.
Primary Faculty Mentor(s)
Dr. Jamie Brooks
Primary Faculty Mentor(s) Department
Biology
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BIOL 114: The Effect of A Cold Snap on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Turner Gymnasium
ABSTRACT:
As global warming continues to cause unpredictable weather patterns, plants are increasingly exposed to multifactorial stress combinations, such as sudden cold snaps that can lead to crop failure. This experiment uses a model organism, Arabidopsis thaliana, to study how the mutant cax-1 affects a plant's ability to handle these temperature shifts during the sensitive germination stage. To test this, both wild-type and mutant seeds were stratified in 0.1% agarose at 4°C for three days before being planted in a 1:1 soil-perlite mix. Two weeks after germination, half of the plants (8 wild-type and 8 mutant) were moved to an Enviro-gene chamber and exposed to a 4°C "cold snap" for one week, while the control groups remained in standard growing conditions (16h light/8h dark). Growth and germination data were recorded to see if the cax-1 mutation hindered the plant’s natural cold-acclimation signaling. Results showed that the wild type plants have grown more compared to the mutant type in both conditions. The cold snap had reduced the growth rate of both groups (wild and mutant type).There was no significant difference between the wild-type and mutant rosette diameter. However, there was a significant difference between the bolt height in the cold snap versus the controlled conditions.