Spinacia Oleracea Research Paper
Chapter 1:Introduction
1.1 Research Question:
How does the concentration of Zinc Sulphate affect the ability of Dichlorophenolindophenol to be reduced during the light dependent reactions of photosynthesis in Spinacia oleracea?
1.2 Rationale behind research:
A few years back, on a visit to my uncle’s farmland in Rajhistan, India, I came across a few barley farms that were clearly receiving polluted water from a zinc mine nearby. The very same crops were then sold in the market! As I recounted the experience of what I saw, I could immediately connect to my biology course where I learnt about the environmental effects of heavy metals. This made me think, although zinc is an important nutrient for both plants and humans, very high concentrations can have adverse effects on both, plant and human life.
Crop yields being ever low in my uncle’s farm made me question. What was actually responsible for the death of so many plants? Why was Zinc, often used in plant fertilisers, being held culprit …show more content…
Though yields improved highly, metal toxicity was largely ignored. A major pollutant! Sources such as soil, water and air became a deposit for such metals. I found out that Zinc Sulphate is the most soluble and cheaply available source of Zinc for plants. Since it’s very soluble in water, it also is the most hazardous making it a significant part of this investigation. Therefore I will plan to set it as my independent variable where it will act out as an enzyme inhibitor. DCPIP (DichlorophenolIndophenol) is used to measure the rate of photosynthesis in this experiment. It reduces during the light dependent reactions instead of NADP+ indicating photosynthesis. The experiment uses Spinach leaves as their greenery indicates that they are filled with chloroplasts, also they’re relatively cheap. These qualities make for a great addition to this
1.1 Research Question:
How does the concentration of Zinc Sulphate affect the ability of Dichlorophenolindophenol to be reduced during the light dependent reactions of photosynthesis in Spinacia oleracea?
1.2 Rationale behind research:
A few years back, on a visit to my uncle’s farmland in Rajhistan, India, I came across a few barley farms that were clearly receiving polluted water from a zinc mine nearby. The very same crops were then sold in the market! As I recounted the experience of what I saw, I could immediately connect to my biology course where I learnt about the environmental effects of heavy metals. This made me think, although zinc is an important nutrient for both plants and humans, very high concentrations can have adverse effects on both, plant and human life.
Crop yields being ever low in my uncle’s farm made me question. What was actually responsible for the death of so many plants? Why was Zinc, often used in plant fertilisers, being held culprit …show more content…
Though yields improved highly, metal toxicity was largely ignored. A major pollutant! Sources such as soil, water and air became a deposit for such metals. I found out that Zinc Sulphate is the most soluble and cheaply available source of Zinc for plants. Since it’s very soluble in water, it also is the most hazardous making it a significant part of this investigation. Therefore I will plan to set it as my independent variable where it will act out as an enzyme inhibitor. DCPIP (DichlorophenolIndophenol) is used to measure the rate of photosynthesis in this experiment. It reduces during the light dependent reactions instead of NADP+ indicating photosynthesis. The experiment uses Spinach leaves as their greenery indicates that they are filled with chloroplasts, also they’re relatively cheap. These qualities make for a great addition to this