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hthsrochefall2018 project 1

Project by group hthsrochefall2018


Explore In class, through Rf values, we discovered that although plant leaves were green, they also contained other pigments such as carotene. Outside on our field studies, we were able to observe that the dominant green pigment, chlorophyll a, began to break down in autumn as secondary pigment, like anthocyanin, became visible. Additionally in everyday life, we observed that salads, often had purple leaves among green ones. One of our initial questions was why the amount of anthocyanin production varied among different plants. As we researched, we learned that anthocyanin production is affected by the genes of an individual plant as well as its environment including light and microbes. Through PlantingScience, we learned from our mentor, Heidi, that the pigment acted as an antioxidant and provides anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral benefits, and a multitude of other health benefits. Additionally, we learned that the data could be quantified through spectrophotometry and chromatography.
Research Question Our team would eventually like to investigate how many generations of selective breeding might be required to obtain a generation of plants with noticeable increases in anthocyanin production.
Predictions Anthocyanin is a pigment that can appear red, purple, or blue. Since the production of anthocyanin can be influenced by genes, we hope to manipulate the amount produced by selecting genes of certain plants to cross-pollinate, in our study. The production of anthocyanin is controlled by allele that we think will be passed to the next generation. After multiple generations of selective breeding, we think that plants will be able to produce more anthocyanin.
Experimental Design Our team plans to observe the anthocyanin production levels in the different generations of plants. We would start with 30 seeds of Brassica Wisconsin Fast Plant. We would plant these seeds in pots made out of water bottles. These seeds would have a consistent watering schedule. When the plants start to flower, we would collect samples of leaves from each plant, then collect data for the independent variable, which plant produced the most amount of anthocyanin. The amount of anthocyanin produced would be quantified using the spectrophotometer which would return the transmittance of each pigment. This can be converted to the absorbance through the Beer’s Law where A = 2 - log10 %T. Through selective breeding, we would cross-pollinate the plants with the most amount of anthocyanin, with swabs that have the pollen on them. The pollination schedules would also be consistent. The pollination would be done first thing in the morning using a paintbrush between the same two plants. When pollen attaches to the brush, there should be specks and flecks. After seeds are produced, we can begin the next generation and repeat this experiment to graph the amount of anthocyanin production as the gene pool is limited to large quantities of anthocyanin production. Constants in our experiment would include the amount of sunlight, temperature, the distance between the plants, soil type, watering schedule, the method of pollination, and pH level of the soil. Our data would be recorded with a spectrophotometer. We would adjust which plants the pollen came from (gene pool), the independent variable. The variable we will be observing and measuring would be the anthocyanin produced.
Investigation Theme BRASSICA
Grade Level High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12)
School Name High Technology High School
Session Fall 2018
About this Project

Of my ninth grade students who participated this semester, Leanne, Lily and Megan had the most sophisticated conversations with their mentor, Heidi, as they attempted to come up with an idea for an experiment. They are currently working out the specifics of an interesting study involving artificial selection of Brassica plants for expression of anthocyanin. Due to our research faculty experimenting with different scheduling patterns and groupings of freshman students that spanned class sections, Lily, Leanne and Megan had to work asynchronously to try and develop an idea worthy of investigation. They are still in the planning phases of this investigation, but I think that other teams might be interested to read parts of these preliminary conversations with their mentor, Heidi.
-- Michael Roche, Teacher

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NSF_Logo.jpg This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2010556 and #1502892. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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