How
Does the Angle of Gravistimulation Effect the Response of the
Plants?
Does the response rate of a plant increase if it is gravistimulated with a more drastic angle, or is there a set rate of growth and adjustment that the plant responses to any angle of orientation?
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 different plants to a variety of different angles, and Capture on film! (Note – This experiment took a couple of runs to observe the different angles of growth)
o Analyze growth patterns using NIH Image
See for yourself what happened:
Movie of roots started at 107 degrees and 40 degrees