What is the Response of a Root When the Entire Plant is Rotated 90 Degrees?
Are plants aware of the gravity that surrounds them? This experiment tests the response of maize roots that are gravistimulated by rotating the plant 90 degrees
Experimental Design of What was Done in the Lab:
(Click Here for Step by Step Photos)
o Imbibe maize seeds for 24 hours.
o Plant seeds between 2 plates of glass and wet paper towels, cover with plastic wrap to hold together and retain moisture.
o Place in trough of water and let germinate for about 2 days, being sure to rewet the top of the paper towels in the glass so the plants do not dry out.
o Look at seedlings, pick out plants with a good root length (1-2 cm).
o Mount seedling on plate, either with a nutrient gel or damp filter paper to maintain moisture, and seal with parafilm.
o Set up camera, Rotate plant 90 degrees, and Capture the movie!
o Analyze growth patterns using NIH Image
See for yourself what happened!
This movie shows 6 hours of growth in 20 seconds of two roots after they have been gravistimulated, so the growth you see here is about 1000 times slower in real life.