A.Trinh's Homepage
Welcome to Arabidopsis thaliana's Home Page
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by Andrew Hsiang Trinh
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General Disclaimer
This Web project was developed as part of "Internet Resources" courses offered by the Biology and Geology departments of the California State University, Los Angeles in 1995 and 1996. It was submitted to the instructors for evaluation and then placed on-line by the Electronic Desktop Project (EDP). EDP does not update or maintain any of the material of this project, and does not vouch for validity or correctness. Furthermore, the student developing this project was instructed about the rules of copyrights. EDP can in no way be responsible for the inclusion of copyrighted material within this project.
What is Arabidopsis thaliana ?
Arabidopsis thaliana is a cruciferous weed which is a small flowering plant and has a life cycle of roughly five to six weeks. The Arabidopsis plant has been the focus of a worldwide scientific collaboration which began in 1990-its goal: to understand the physiology, growth, and development of a typical flowering plant at the molecular level.
How does Arabidopsis thaliana look like?
Why do we use Arabidopsis thaliana as a model organism?
Arabidopsis thaliana is used popularly for plant science researchers as a model organism to study various aspects of plant biology. The plant is very small and does not require a lot of space to grow. Also, it has the smallest genome known among higher plants. It can produce many seeds and has well developed classical genetics. Its life cycle is approximately 5 to 6 weeks long. It also develops, reproduces, and responds to stress and disease in much the same way as many crop plants. For these reasons, Arabidopsis thaliana is an ideal choice as a model plant for these types of studies. This allows researchers to study extensively on genetic and ecology.
How do we grow Arabidopsis thaliana?
To begin with, the seeds are germinated via nutrient solution at 4 degree centigrade for approximately two days. Then, seeds are ready to plant by using microspatula. Carefully, try to place each seed on the surface of the soil with roughly 1 inch distance apart.
What sort of fertiliazer do we use?
- 0.002M Cacium Nitrate
- 0.0025M Potassium Phosphate Monobasic
- 0.004M Magnesium sulfate
- 0.005M Potassium Nitrate
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Studies on Arabidopsis thaliana are shown on the following items:
Who is doing research on Arabidopsis thaliana ?
Dr.R.L. Vellanoweth at CSULA is studying the nature of the biochemical and genetic changes associated with the senescene (aging) at Arabidopsis thaliana. His group is performing sophisticated biochemical experiment to test the hypothesis that senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana is a consequence of a genetic program which is turned on by the presence of reactive oxygen species. Dr. Vellanoweth also has focused on the superoxide dismutase enzyme as an important factor in the onset of senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana.
Dr. E. Meyerowitz at California Institude of Technology (CalTech) is doing some very interesting studies on the nature of flower development in Arabidopsis thaliana. By creating mutant breeds of Arabidopsis thaliana, Dr. Meyerowitz has been able to create plants which produce flowers with stamens instead of petals, petals in the place of carpels, pistils in the place of carpels, and all other possible combinations imaginable of the flower's parts.
Dr. C. Somerville and the Carnegie Institution has been interested in the mechanisms that regulate plant lipid metabolism and in creating mutants with alterations in their membrane lipid compostions.
- These scientists are just a few of the hundreds world wide currently using Arabidopsis thaliana as their model organism as a means of addressing very difficult biological problems.
What sort of information is available on the internet about Arabidopsis thaliana?