Blog Updates
OK, Zoomer - Update #2
11/8/19
And I Oop! This update is coming to you boomers from a Gen Z research team. As the decade of our childhood comes to an end, we decided to focus on new beginnings with our trials, similar to the fresh start we will find when 2020 finally arrives. We also want to review some of our favorite generational aspects, and review the progress on the pretrials.
We're sure you didn't think we, basic teens, could get any more annoying with our technology and goofy social media. Wanna bet? Time to square up!
With different liquids/sticky medias, we are inoculating, or attempting to attach Rhizobia bacteria, to T. repens (clover) seeds, in order to promote nitrogen fixation within the legume. More efficient inoculation methods will hopefully allow for farmers to better replenish nitrogen in their fields during rest seasons with rest crops such as clover. During the past month, we have been working on the actual experimentation with our research: growing and taking care of clover. No cap.
The iGen Travails
Shortly after planting our pretrials, we got to work on inoculating and planting each of our trials with different inoculation solutions. For three weeks, we began a new trial each Tuesday and Thursday during our class period, skrt skrt! We used orange juice, glue, water, corn syrup, Coca Cola, and a positive control, gum Arabic, as our inoculant mediums.
Each trial consisted of measuring out the exact mass of seed mix and Rhizobia inoculant powder, employing a ratio we determined through pretrials, based on the suggestions of the company the inoculant powder came from. These were then combined, alongside a consistent volume of whichever was liquid used for inoculation for each trial, and mixed in a bowl. Then, the mixture was planted, and the clover was left to grow.
Throughout this period of time, we continued to nurture and grow the pretrial plants we planted about a month ago. In recent weeks, these leafy bois were ready to be studied for the second half of our experiment: the nodule count and leghemoglobin assay. Nodules on the roots of the clover are indicative of successful inoculation, and the leghemoglobin protein can be analyzed to better determine successful nitrogen fixation within the nodules. We uprooted a few to examine, and realized we had relatively low nodule growth. This observation has allowed us to realize that our plants will need more time to grow, in order to develop more nodules.
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So Long Millennials, Hello Zoomers
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Our next steps in our research will be to determine the best methods to run a leghemoglobin assay and count nodules, which will be done using the pretrial plants. We will give the rest of our trials some time to grow, and then run these assays to quantify our data.
The future of our experimental trials, similar to our upcoming role in society, is filled with potential.
So, look out for us Gen Z researchers (oof, sorry boomers), dropping fire knowledge and discovery with the hippest plant, clover.
Final Thoughts
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