Brassica Rapa Research

In this experiment we are testing the effect of fertilizer on the speed of plant growth. We prepared a 4 quad cell, 1 control group and 3 experimental groups. So, we had one with no fertilizer, one with three seeds of fertilizer, one with six seeds of fertilizer, and lastly, one with nine seeds of fertilizer. The plants that we grew were called Wisconsin Fast Plants, members of the crucifer family. These plants are small and easy to grow, but for optimal growth they require continuous fertilizer, water, fluorescent light, and temperature between 18 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius 24 hours a day. Fertilizers are substances that are put into soils to increase the growth of the plant. There are two different types of fertilizers, synthetic

There were two types of plants used. Both were of the same species, Brassica rapa but two of the plants contained rosette shaped complexes that were deficient in producing gibberellic acid compared to the wild-type plants. Therefore, they grew smaller and shorter as a phenotype. The Brassicaceae family includes cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, and many others. (

Wisconsin Fast Plants (WFPs), or Brassica rapa, are plants in the Cruciferous family, developed through selective breeding from a strain of Himalayan weeds (Williams). WFPs have a life cycle of around forty days. This short life cycle makes WFPs valuable for laboratory study. In addition, WFPs are simple to grow, as they only need water and a light source to survive (Williams). Their simple needs, allowing ease in controlling variables, make WFPs ideal for use in experiments.

The Wisconsin fast plant also known as the Brassica rapa belongs to the crucifer family of plants, closely related to cabbages, turnips, broccoli and other vegetables. Brassica rapa plants are used because they are viewed as model organism, a species that has been widely studied and can be breed in a laboratory. It is an ideal model organism because it has a short growing process. About 2 weeks after the plant is planted it will began flowering, possessing the ability to produce seeds at high planting density, is categorized as a petite plant size, and lastly has the ability to grow under continuous fluorescent lighting in a standard potting mix. This plants make it easy to track the genetic information passed from generation to generation

Competition happens between two or more things. In talking about plants they compete with each to survive. When competing against each other to survive they are using soil, water, nitrogen, and space. In using theses resources and having theses available gives the plant a greater chance in living. Even though plants compete environmental wise it is still scene that there is a lot of unknown to why plants compete. Some researchers believe it could be because of the root size of an individual plant or the size of the seed, which gives it better competition in surviving (Miller, 1995). Different types of competition can happen between plants likes intraspecific and interspecific competition. Miller (1995) believes there is not enough research shown to make a determination as to why competition between plants happens and that there should be research done in looking at the evolution of plants in different environments where they can compete with each other. In looking at competition in plants in class the experiment that we conducted looks at the Brassica rapa in a intraspecific competition in different densities. Miller (1995) found that the B. rapa in intraspecific competition did have increase in the number of flowers that were produced. Comparing this to the finding of Miller, when looking at different densities of plants in a interspecific competition could the B. rapa have more of a change in growth because a higher density will have more seeds and the B.

At the start of this experiment we were required to obtain a set of four Wisconsin Fast Plants, which are genetically, known as Brassica rapa. These plants have been, “originally selected under continuous fluorescent light to grow and reproduce quickly for research purposes, these petite, fast-growing plants have been used for teaching biology concepts” (Wisconsin Fast Plants). These four pots that contain our plants will be under our watch for the next 16 weeks where we will show our results at the end of the semester.

Each quad of soil had 2-3 seeds in it along with either 0, 3, 6, or 9 pellets of fertilizer in each quad to possibly get 4 plants total. Two types of fertilizer exist, organic fertilizer and synthetic fertilizer. Gardeners.com says that, organic fertilizers are made from organic materials. (1) Organic fertilizers also prevent the plant with a better structure, improving the structure of the plant. (2) Synthetic fertilizers are fast-acting fertilizers but also come in different forms such as granule, spike and pellet. (2) This kind of fertilizer is also known for seeing green in the plants quicker and quick-hit of nutrients for the plants. (2) There are advantages and disadvantages of using fertilizer. Plants can have a quick action of growth and are more defined when using fertilizer. (3) But sometimes there is a chance of using the fertilizer to much causing damage to the whole soil ecosystem. (3) Over two weeks we observed the growth of the fast plants and recorded the data of the height. By the end of the two weeks, we also recorded the weight of the fast plants. I hypothesized that each quadrant was going to be different plant growth, with the quadrant of 6 pellets (quadrant C) being the fastest growing plant. My individual results showed that the quadrant with 9 pellets (quadrant D) had the most results with growing in

In order to test this hypothesis and prediction, an experiment was conducted using a heterozygous F1 generation of Brassica Rapa seeds. The seeds were planted, pollinated, harvested (F2 generation) and germinated for observation. When leaves were visible, phenotypes (green vs. purple) were counted and recorded. The experiment took place over 13 weeks, spanning the full semester of General Biology Lab I. The sections that follow will detail the materials and methods used, the results of the investigation and an in-depth discussion of the outcomes.

One of the most important Brassica rapa features is that many generations can be grown in a short period of time for experimental analysis and comparison(Tsunoda, 1980).Brassica rapaplants are involved in many research works recently in which they are crossed with other crops to modify their genetic fitness(Tompkins, 1990). The Chi-Square ( ) test was used in this experiment to determine whether the statistical data supports or rejects the hypothesis.

The experiments were performed in the science lab 1.226 at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg on October 2, 2017. The experiments were performed in a two-day process due to lack of time. Instructions were given by our TA on where to find the substances (guaiacol under the fume hood, turnip extract, peroxide, and distilled water were placed on our lab tables in dropper bottles, along with the spectrophotometer) and were told to get started. In activity 1 we will be testing 3 concentrations of an enzyme (0.5 ml, 1.0 ml, and 2.0 ml of turnip extract). To quantify the rate of reaction in turnips, guaiacol will be used as the color reagent. Guaiacol is oxidized when it encounters peroxide, allowing light at 470 nm to be absorbed and allowing us to measure the absorbance. In the first activity from experiment day 1, three test tubes were obtained and two clean cuvettes from our lab TA, and placed in a test tube rack on our lab tables. We used one of the test tubes to make the control, another to make the substrate and the last one to make the enzyme. We did this process 3 times to test the effects of the low enzyme concentration, medium enzyme concentration, and high enzyme concentration on the enzyme reaction rate. For the low enzyme concentration, on the control test tube we added 1.0 ml of guaiacol, 0.5 ml turnip extract, 0 ml of peroxide and 8.5 ml of distilled water, getting a total volume of 10 ml in the test tube. For the low enzyme concentration, on the

The black-eyed peas were all exposed to different amounts of lemon juice in each level. Level 1: 0%, level 2: 50%, and level 3: 100%. In level 1 by day 2, the number of black-eyed peas germinated increased greatly, but throughout the rest of the experiment it stayed the same. In both level 2 and 3, 0 seeds were germinated by day 2. During the time between day 2 and 6, level 2’s number of seeds increased from 0 to 8. In level 3 only 1 seed was germinated during that time. The graph supports that the seeds given less lemon juice had more seeds germinated.

For a farmer it is not the total tuber yield, but the marketable yield, that is most important. This marketable yield may be influenced by the water supply of the crop. Many reports indicate that dry soil conditions in the period of tuber initiation result in a relatively limited number of tubers. This might increase the percentage of the total yield that is marketable if large tubers are desired. On the other hand, a small tuber number per plant often results in big tubers, among which a relatively high percentage of growth cracked or knobby tubers can be found (Llewelyn 1963, Steckel, and Gray, 1979 and Thomas,

Labels were first made for Intraspecific and Interspecific for each plastic pot measuring 6cm by 6cm by 8.5cm. There was 10 pots filled ¾ of the way full, with Sta-Green™-moisture mixture plus wood fertilizer, for each of the twenty groups. For intraspecific a control was set with one Brassica rapa seed directly in the center of the pot. Then 2 Brassica rapa seeds were placed together equal distances apart into two pots. In another two pots, four Brassica rapa seeds were placed together equally apart. The last two pots had 8 Brassica rapa seeds equally apart. The Brassica rapa seeds used in this experiment are Wisconsin Fast Plant™. For the interspecific groups,the plastic pots were the same as above and each filled ¾ full of the same potting

This experiment studies the effect of the hormone, Gibberellic acid, on the growth of plants. The hormone increases cell growth and cell division in the stems and leaves of plants. Gibberellic acid is applied on food crops to quicken germination because it is naturally occurring and has a low toxicity (Phillips, n.d.). The purpose for studying Gibberellic acid is to observe how it affects the growth of plants. The Brassica rapa and the rosette receiving the hormone Gibberellic acid will show an increase in their health, wet mass in grams, and dry mass in grams than those that do not receive it.

Gregor Mendel had a huge impact on the discovery of genetics. It is believed that his interest to explore genetics was greatly influenced by Joseph Koelreuter. Koelrueter observed that not all hybrids can reproduce, and that when mated some of the hybrids look like the parents, and some looked like a different species. This intrigued Mendel. Mendel then began to study the inheritance patterns from pea plants. He concluded that traits were not blended that they remain distinct from one another when being passed form generation to generation. Plants, like the Brassica rapa, are very easy to grow, grow very quickly, have distinct observable characteristics, the strains