Agar Composition on Root Growth

1. Agar Composition on Root Growth Aaron Seigler James Skinner Matt Boggs

2. Hypothesis • The greater the density of an agar solution that Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia) seeds are cultivated in, the longer the roots.

3. Measured How and When? • The Arabidopsis was scanned on the computer twice. Once for every week. • They were then put into the computer software Image J. • Next, they were measured by all three experimenters. • These numbers were then averaged and put into one measurement. • Dr. Ab then helped us with the stats part of the experiment and helped us find the P value.

5. Summary of Findings • The most dense agar composition of 1.6% had the longest root growth, followed by the 0.4% agar, and last was the 0.8% agar. • The P value found supported our findings. • The more dense the agar the longer the root growth was, which this was previously not believed.

6. What does it all mean? • This shows the more dense the agar the better the roots will grow. • The density of the agar does not inhibit the root growth of Arabidopsis plants. • The more dense the agar solution the greater amount of nutrients the plant received and therefore grew longer.

7. Supported or Not? • The greater the density of an agar solution that Arabidopsis thaliana (Columbia) seeds are cultivated in, the longer the roots. • The P value found while doing the stat work with Dr. Ab proved to give us the support our hypothesis needed. • Also the more dense agar concentration of 1.6% had the longest roots.

8. Do it Again? • We would take light out of the formula because the plates on the outside had the longer roots. We would cover them with heavy construction paper so light could only get in from the top. • Also we would be careful with the less dense agar concentrations so it doesn’t turn to water and wash away our plants. • How dense can the agar concentration be before the roots can’t grow down into it?