DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Plant growth is dependent on many factors that can be provided by the environment, such as water, soil, nutrients, etc., but one of the most important factors of plant growth is light.  The type of light plants are exposed to greatly influences how the plant grows.  Previous studies show that red light and far-red light provide plants with extensive growth in comparison to other wavelengths of light, such as green, blue, and sunlight.  The purpose of this study was to observe the phenotypic effects and of high intensity red light on Brassica rapa plants (Wisconsin Fast Plants) in comparison to other wavelengths of light such as high intensity far-red, blue, and green light in addition to sunlight.  In addition, another objective of this study was to determine the effect of high intensity red light on presence/amount of phytochromes A and B in Brassica rapa plants.  Eight different Brassica rapa plants were planted and placed in a box with a light source set on high intensity red light for one week.  Plant growth was able to be monitored as well as phenotypic changes and phototropism.  Week one involved starting the experiment by planting the Wisconsin Fast Plants and taking first measurement.  The second week procedure essentially involved extracting protein from the plants from the leaves and quantifying the amount of protein.  Week three consisted of performing a western blot analysis with the use of the protein extracted from week two.  The fourth week involved developing the western blot results, taking photos of them to quantify the amounts of the proteins, and making connections with the data obtained.The hypothesis of this experiment was that the plants exposed to high intensity red light will exhibit more growth than plants exposed to high intensity blue, green, or sunlight and slightly less growth than plants exposed to far-red light.  Also, the plants that are exposed to high intensity red light will produce more phytochrome B than phytochrome A since phytochrome A converts to phytochrome B in the presence of red light.


DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.