BIOL 114: The Effect of Sand on Arabidopsis thaliana Growth and Development

This experiment investigated the effects of sandy soil on the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana. We hypothesized that Arabidopsis thaliana would grow better in standard potting soil compared to a mixture of sand and soil. To test this, we grew wild-type and mutant Arabidopsis thaliana plants in two conditions: a 1:1 potting mix and perlite (standard topsoil) and a mixture of 65 percent sand with potting soil, simulating the sandy conditions of Virginia Beach. Our results supported the hypothesis for the wild-type plants, as those grown in standard soil had significantly larger rosette diameters than those in the sand mixture. However, the mutant plants showed the opposite trend, with larger rosette diameters in sandy soil than in standard soil. This suggests that genetic variations may influence how Arabidopsis thaliana responds to soil composition. The findings align with research indicating that standard soil, which retains more nutrients, generally leads to better plant growth. However, the mutant plants' unexpected response to sand shows a potential for genetic adaptation in different soil environments.