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.
Arabidopsis links
AAtDB
AIMSArabidopsis 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.
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.
Studies on Arabidopsis thaliana are shown on the following items:
GeneticsDevelopmentGrowth and BehaviorMonograph Review
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.
What sort of information is available on the internet about Arabidopsis thaliana?
Boston links
Nottingham links
Arabidopsis Information Resources
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