The effect of temperature and cer10 mutation on the stem growth rate of Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

Cuticular wax in the small, flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana serves a variety of functions. In particular, the wax cuticle helps to regulate water loss in different temperature-stress environments. The cer10 mutation in A. thaliana results in an inability to properly synthesize cuticular wax. The lack of a cuticular wax may impact the growth of mutant A. thaliana under temperature stress. Our study compared the stem growth of mutant and wild type A. thaliana grown in 10⁰C, 20⁰C, and 30⁰C incubators. Using a two-way ANOVA, it was found that mutant A. thaliana plants grow significantly shorter stems than wild-type plants. We also discovered that the high-temperature stress environment of the 30⁰C incubator produced a significant increase in stem growth of both wild-type and mutant A. thaliana. This may be linked to increased indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production, which is released to promote stem elongation under high temperature conditions.