Mycro Madness: A Study of the Effect Mycorrhiza has on Solanum tuberosum, Cucurbita pepo, and Medicago sativa When Exposed to Different Environmental Factors

Overview

In 1885 a scientist named Albert Bernhard Frank discovered a fungus that would enhance plants and the amount of offspring they would produce, he coined this fungus mycorrhizae. In this experiment, I grew three different types of plants, russet potatoes, zucchini, and alfalfa, and exposed them to different amounts of mycorrhizae through their growth cycle. I then exposed the plants to different environmental factors that have been occurring more recently due to climate change, these factors being a drought, overwater, and cold. After analyzing my plant height data, I found that mycorrhizae had the most positive effect on the alfalfa plants and the most negative effect on the potato plants. There were significant differences between the control alfalfa plants and the alfalfa treated with double the amount of mycorrhizae in the first two weeks of growth, but after the seventh week, there was no significant difference. There were also significant differences in my drought treatments, both in my alfalfa and squash plants. After analyzing my plant biomass data I found that mycorrhizae had a significant effect on the amount of plant material of alfalfa plants, increasing as the amount of mycorrhizae increased. After analyzing my chloroplast counts I found the mycorrhizae affect almost all plants to a significant level before and after treatment. In conclusion, mycorrhizae has an overall positive effect on plants when looking for a better plant yield, but causes less plant growth and plant material. Redefining Green Energy with the Power of Chlamydomonas Gavin S. Rodriguez Harmony Science Academy, El Paso, TX With the increase of carbon dioxide within our planet’s atmosphere, the temperature on our planet is increasing and at a morbid pace. In addition to the increase of temperatures, there is an increase in population and, eventually, the demand for energy will continue to escalate. The increase of our climate temperature can be attributed to the increase in greenhouse gases from the use of fossil fuels and we just keep harming our planet. Imagine, using green algae as an alternative source of energy, it will help to fight three big problems we face: CO2 emissions, ways to harness renewable sources of energy, and dispose of waste. Many of our current processes to generate hydrogen are very costly and non-environmental friendly. Looking into photosynthetic organisms can be a more cost effective and environmentally safe way. Chlamydomonas are one of many unicellular types of algae, and has over 500 species, with so many options scientists only use a few. The most commonly used species is Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii. This is a species of algae that when put under particular situations is capable of mass-producing hydrogen, this is through its own form of photosynthesis. The experimental approach that I am studying is by the depletion of sulfur and addition of copper, on three different types of samples to be gown during the experimental phase. The expected results for the experiment will be to find out which form of algae and process is most useful for the production of hydrogen towards the benefit humanity.