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Me at the same event, holding a tarantula.
Designing my Project
Designing my Project
From the beginning, I always wanted to do a project about genetic modification in plants. It's actually what I want to go to college for. Originally, I wanted to look at varieties of corn and try to increase their protein content to make them more nutritious. Along the way, I ran into some roadblocks with how I'd actually modify the genes, and where I would grow the plants. Around that time, I went to an event at the Butterfly Pavilion and listened to a presentation on pollinator-friendly gardens. It got me thinking: was there a way to make these gardens an even more efficient habitat for pollinators? If flowers were able to produce more pollen, would they be a better food source for insects? This eventually developed into my project and my hypothesis.
Previous Research
Previous Research
I did a lot of digging on what other scientists have studied in the past. There weren't very many experiments on how gene modifications impacted pollen, and there were even fewer specifically regarding the amount of pollen produced. This revealed "The Gap": we don't know much about this very specific topic, and novel research needs to be done in order to reveal more.
The anther is the part of the flower that makes pollen. Image from Pixahive.
Since there weren't any previous studies related to my specific research question, I had to get a little creative. I started looking into the factors that affected flower development and pollen production. Eventually, I stumbled upon a plant protein called lignin. It plays an important role in developing much of a plant's structural support, but it is prevalent in pollen-producing structures like the anthers.
When I branched out further in this direction, I found a study conducted by Preston et al that researched another gene, and found that changing it resulted in pollen grains being malformed. Furthermore, their paper identified a family of genes called MYB, that are important in regulating pollen development. Building upon this even further was research from Borevitz et al. They investigated PAP1-D, a gene from the same exact family, and found that when modified, it greatly increased amounts of lignin. I want to expand on their research and determine whether increased lignin also causes increased pollen.
The plants, 10/30.
My Setup (so far)
My Setup (so far)
My seeds were delivered in late October. On the 24th, they were immersed in distilled water and put in the refrigerator over the weekend for a process called "cold stratification". This simulates natural winter conditions and helps to bring the seeds out of dormancy, making germination more likely and uniform.
They were planted the following Monday, Oct. 27th. The seedlings stay on a plant cart under a grow light. They receive 12 hours of light per day, and every Monday/Wednesday/Friday, they get approximately 1/4 inch of water, which they absorb through their drip tray.
The most recent photo, 12/7.
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