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Acid, A Growth Hormone Is Responsible For The Growth Of Stems

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Gibberellic acid, a growth hormone, is responsible for the growth of stems in many plants; specifically, this paper highlights GA’s role in pea plants. Gregor Mendel, the earliest geneticist we know of, formed the theory of heredity, in which he described genes (traits) passed down from one generation to another. Using his knowledge, we tested whether an unknown genotype, le*, contained a mutation along the signaling pathway of GA. Based on our data, the le* pea plants treated with GA grew 20.2 cm. while the le* pea plants treated without GA only grew 5.9 cm. We can understand that the le* pea plants were able to synthesize the GA enzyme and grow taller as a result. Further, we performed gel electrophoresis to understand the genetic …show more content…

Some of Mendel’s pea plants were tall (Le) while others were short, or dwarfs (le). Our experiment centers on why an uncharacterized pea mutant (le*) has short stem height. The determining factor of plant height is the hormone gibberellin (gibberellic acid, or GA), discovered in the 1920s from a fungus Gibberella fujikuroi. After extraction, it was purified into liquid form, able to be sprayed onto plants,
Mutations along this signaling pathway disrupt plant growth; if a dwarfed plant is responsive to the addition of GA, then the mutation can be found along the initial portion of the pathway (at the conversion of GA precursors to GA1) (Biology 1 Laboratory Manual, 2014).
In this experiment we are testing whether or not the mutated le* pea plant is responsive to GA. While Le plants already code for a GA biosynthetic enzyme, the addition of GA to le mutants could jumpstart their stunted growth. We hypothesized that spraying the three plant genotypes (Le, le, le*) with GA3 should result in increased growth over one week, as the plants synthesize active GA1. If the plants are not responsive to GA, mutations could be found in the receptor or in other genes, and we will see no change in height. Secondly, we are testing whether the le* mutant will have a change in the DNA sequence of the Le gene after applying GA. Through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and gel

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