BIOL 114: The Effect of ash on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Location
Turner Gymnasium
Access Type
Campus Access Only
Presentation Type
Printed poster
Entry Number
2
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
Previous research has shown us that wildfires increase the PH level of the soil. While this is harmful to an extent, a slight raise in PH has shown to be beneficial and provide micronutrients to plants. Because different species react differently when exposed to wildfires, there is a clear need to investigate how plants with different genotypes will react to the same stressors. The goal of this experiment was to determine the effects of ash on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana and the differences between the wild-type plant and the plants with the mutated gene 68673. We planted a total of 128 plants amongst 4 groups: wildtype control, mutant control, wildtype experiment, and mutant experiment. All the plants were kept in the same living conditions: temperature, water, and sunlight. The experimental groups had 1g of wood ash added to the surface of the soil and mixed in before planting the seeds. The plants were counted and measured once a week for a total of 6 weeks. The ash had a significant effect on the diameter of the leaves of the experimental A. thaliana. The control groups had significantly larger diameters of leaves than the experiment. We found that the ash caused some of the plants to not germinate, and the ones that grew had significantly stunted growth. These findings rejected our hypothesis that A. thaliana would be able to maintain typical growth when exposed to ash to simulate wildfire conditions.
Primary Faculty Mentor(s)
prof Kimberly Geier
Primary Faculty Mentor(s) Department
Biology
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BIOL 114: The Effect of ash on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development
Turner Gymnasium
Previous research has shown us that wildfires increase the PH level of the soil. While this is harmful to an extent, a slight raise in PH has shown to be beneficial and provide micronutrients to plants. Because different species react differently when exposed to wildfires, there is a clear need to investigate how plants with different genotypes will react to the same stressors. The goal of this experiment was to determine the effects of ash on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana and the differences between the wild-type plant and the plants with the mutated gene 68673. We planted a total of 128 plants amongst 4 groups: wildtype control, mutant control, wildtype experiment, and mutant experiment. All the plants were kept in the same living conditions: temperature, water, and sunlight. The experimental groups had 1g of wood ash added to the surface of the soil and mixed in before planting the seeds. The plants were counted and measured once a week for a total of 6 weeks. The ash had a significant effect on the diameter of the leaves of the experimental A. thaliana. The control groups had significantly larger diameters of leaves than the experiment. We found that the ash caused some of the plants to not germinate, and the ones that grew had significantly stunted growth. These findings rejected our hypothesis that A. thaliana would be able to maintain typical growth when exposed to ash to simulate wildfire conditions.