Research Proposal for Aspects of Arabidopsis thaliana

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Research Proposal for Aspects of Arabidopsis thaliana

Research Proposal for Aspects of Arabidopsis thaliana

Introduction

The mouse ear cress Arabidopsis thaliana is a member of the Brassicaeae that lends itself well to genetic study in that it has only a small quantity of DNA. The plant itself has little commercial value aside from that as a research tool, and it has no aesthetic horticultural value at all. It is a small plant that can be grown by the hundreds in cells on a laboratory bench, and its small quantity of DNA makes it useful in identifying genes of other organisms (Wheeler, 1994).

Normal flower color varies between solid white petals to green petals only tinged with white. Manipulation of flower color is of interest not because of any potential ornamental value, but because of the mechanisms of gene expression in the visible appearance of the yellow pigment anthocyanin.

In like manner, information regarding cold tolerance and the biochemical changes that occur within the plant in response to cold are not of interest primarily for culture of the plant itself except as it applies to cultural conditions that need to be maintained for