Henry Mauser

10/09/19

Dr. Orcutt

BIOL 205

Lab 6 Post-Lab

1. The function of the seed coat is, firstly, to protect the seed from physical harm from the
environment. Secondly, it allows for control over germination of the seed, that is, it can
regulate how long the seed sties dormant and when it germinated by sensing when the
environmental conditions are suitable for growth.
2. The function of the cotyledons is to provide a growing plant embryo with nutrients early
in its life so it can then grow proper leaves and sustain itself. The cotyledons (or
cotyledon, if the plant is a monocot) act as the first “leaves” of the plant.
3. It seems likely that both the activity of the Coleus stems and leaves is a result of the same
hormone activity, considering that both are growth responses based on the angle at which
light is shining on the plant. The leaves orient themselves toward the light, and the stems
begin to grow in the direction of the light as well, thus while they are different parts of
the plant, their growth in response to this environmental change is of similar nature. To
determine with more certainty whether or not this growth is a result of the same hormone
activity, an experiment could be arranged wherein plants such as the ones observed here
could be grown in the same gravitational conditions, with some plants containing an
apical meristem while others not containing it, and in this manner, one group of plants
would be secreting the hormone while the other is not, and growth could be compared.
Alternatively, both the leaves and stems of plants growing could be tested for the
presence of the same hormone, and if found in both, it would be reasonable to postulate
that both parts of the plant are under its influence and growing.
4. See attached sheet for the results section (which is in the possession of the professor,
likely).
5. The was indeed a significant difference in treatment response between the dwarf and
normal seedlings, the reason being that the addition of gibberellin to the dwarf seedlings
caused them to grow more rapidly than they otherwise would have, while addition to the
normal seedlings caused no change since gibberellin was already present and adding
more would make no difference. The specific chemical mechanism at play here is that
gibberellin would promote the elongation of growing cells in the dwarf plants in the same
manner that the natural gibberellin does in the normal plants.
Results Section

Height (cm)
TREATMENT Initial Final Percent change in size of individual plant
Dwarf control 9 9.50 5.56
Dwarf control 9.1 10.10 10.99
Dwarf control 9.5 11.70 23.16
Dwarf control 9.9 10.00 1.01
Dwarf control 12.6 14.70 16.67
Dwarf control 10.4 13.00 25.00
Dwarf control 10 12.50 25.00
Dwarf control 6.7 8.30 23.88
Dwarf control 9.2 11.20 21.74
Dwarf control 12.8 15.00 17.19
Dwarf control 10.9 12.00 10.09
Dwarf control 13.4 18.00 34.33
Dwarf control 9.3 10.2 9.68
Dwarf control 8.4 9.5 13.10
Dwarf control 9.5 11.5 21.05
Dwarf control 7.9 10 26.58
Dwarf treated 12.9 18.60 44.19
Dwarf treated 12.7 22.00 73.23
Dwarf treated 10.1 18.00 78.22
Dwarf treated 10.5 17.30 64.76
Dwarf treated 10.8 19.60 81.48
Dwarf treated 14.4 20.70 43.75
Dwarf treated 13 20.10 54.62
Dwarf treated 10.3 16.50 60.19
Dwarf treated 15.1 25.60 69.54
Dwarf treated 14.1 21.30 51.06
Dwarf treated 11.7 21.30 82.05
Dwarf treated 9.4 17.00 80.85
Dwarf treated 12 15.90 32.50
Dwarf treated 7.7 11.50 49.35
Dwarf treated 9.5 13.30 40.00
Dwarf treated 11.3 17.20 52.21
Normal control 19.3 24.90 29.02
Normal control 23.5 28.00 19.15
Normal control 25.2 30.50 21.03
Normal control 31.2 35.60 14.10
Normal control 28.4 36.40 28.17
 Normal control 32.9 33.10 0.61
Normal control 40.5 43.50 7.41
Normal control 37.5 43.50 16.00
Normal control 32.9 41.00 24.62
Normal control 30 38.50 28.33
Normal control 23.1 31.00 34.20
Normal control 29.5 35.00 18.64
Normal control 28.5 32.70 14.74
Normal control 22.2 27.00 21.62
Normal control 36.4 39.90 9.62
Normal control 29.2 34.10 16.78
Normal treated 27.3 31.50 15.38
Normal treated 36.6 42.30 15.57
Normal treated 31.7 36.00 13.56
Normal treated 19.2 26.60 38.54
Normal treated 26.4 33.00 25.00
Normal treated 24.7 32.50 31.58
Normal treated 31.6 37.60 18.99
Normal treated 20 25.80 29.00
Normal treated 26.1 35.50 36.02
Normal treated 23.4 30.00 28.21
Normal treated 36.3 43.00 18.46
Normal treated 23.1 31.00 34.20
Normal treated 24.5 31.40 28.16
Normal treated 29.6 38.20 29.05
Normal treated 39.3 47.30 20.36
Normal treated 34.7 43.50 25.36

MEANS
Dwarf Control Initial Final  
MEAN SIZE OF PLANTS 27.9 34.91  
MEAN % INCREASE IN SIZE   25.1 
Dwarf Treated      
MEAN SIZE OF PLANTS 27.0 33.93  
MEAN % INCREASE IN SIZE   25.8 
Normal Control      
MEAN SIZE OF PLANTS 22.7 26.28  
MEAN % INCREASE IN SIZE   15.6 
Normal Treated      
MEAN SIZE OF PLANTS 21.7 26.28  
MEAN % INCREASE IN SIZE   21.0
 Figure 1: The initial heights, final heights, and percent changes of all the plants measured.

Figure 2: The transformed plant growth percent changes and mean for each treatment type.

Observing the results of statistical testing on the plant growth due to gibberellin treatment
data collected in this investigation, the “dwarf treated” group of plants was the only single group
significantly different than the others. The “normal treated” and “normal control” groups were
determined to be similar, as well as the “normal control” and “dwarf control,” and furthermore
the “normal control” group therefore is similar to both the “normal treated” and “dwarf control”
groups. An analysis of variance test on the data also yielded a p-value of <0.0001, indicating that
there is significant difference in growth.
70.0 Mean Percent Increases in Size for
60.0 each Treatment
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
Dwarf Control Dwarf Tre... Normal Control Normal T...