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Research
What is Arabidopsis & why is it important?
Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) was the first plant to have its genome completely sequenced (circa 2000). Although technically a weed, this small plant has been transformed into an important model system for plant research. Arabidopsis is a member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and is related to a number of common food plants including cabbage, radish and cauliflower. Arabidopsis has a small genome, is easy to mutate, has a fast life cycle and is relatively easy to grow. What we learn from research using Arabidopsis can be applied to more economically and agriculturally important plants. Sometimes, Arabidopsis research provides insights that can be related to animal systems, including humans.
What is the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center?
The Ohio State University is home to the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (ABRC), one of two global stock centers providing Arabidopsis seeds, DNA and other resources to researchers around the globe. ABRC is home to over 500,000 Arabidopsis seed lines. In some cases, ABRC knows the genotype (genetics) and phenotype (appearance) of individual seed lines in the collection. However, this information is not available for every seed line in our collection.
What does ABRC want to know?
Many of the seed lines included in this project have not been characterized. That means we do not know details about the seed line’s genotype or phenotype. In fact, only 5,350 mutant seed lines in our collection have been characterized to date.
This project aims to provide ABRC with new information about these seed lines by asking citizen scientists to quantify the number of mutant phenotypes and dead seeds in different seed samples. This citizen science project is valuable to the ABRC, and the plant science community, because it allows us to gather data for a large number of seed lines that we might not otherwise have the time to analyze ourselves.
What will ABRC do with this information?
ABRC staff will use the information generated through this project to determine if differences in seed phenotypes and survival are due to genetic mutations and/or seed quality issues.
Sounds great, but how will ABRC do that?
ABRC staff will analyze the data collected through this project to help us determine the phenotypes of the seeds included in these samples. We will verify the results of the data through a variety of actions including cross referencing between different seed lines with alterations in the same gene to see if similar phenotypes are seen in those lines. This information could lead to further investigation of the impact of specific mutations on seed survival, and/or contribute valuable information on seed quality that could lead to improvements in seed production and storage.
Seed Sleuth
