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Project Information |
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Project Information |
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Name: Scott Adams Grade Category: Gr. 9 Subject Area: Biology Project Type: Experimental Language: English Summary: The purpose of this project is to prove the hypothesis that RNAi affects plant characteristics. Ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) is a tool used to “knock-out” the expression of a chosen gene. Enhanced Disease Susceptibility 1 (EDS1) is a gene that has been reported to be involved in plant defence against pathogens of Brassica napus. Transgenic plant lines which knock out the EDS1 gene have been created. This project investigated the effect of the knock-out of the EDS1 gene on B. napus response to Albugo candida (the cause of white rust disease of Brassicas). The B. napus EDS1 RNAi lines and control lines were inoculated with A. candida race 2V. After inoculation of EDS1-RNAi lines with A. candida race 2V, a count of resistant and susceptible plants was completed. Microscopy work showed that cotyledons of the EDS1 RNAi lines were able to support growth of the pathogen but the non-RNAi lines showed no pathogen growth. PCR was used to confirm the presence of the EDS1 RNAi construct. It was concluded that transgenic plant lines with the RNAi construct were predominantly effective in knocking out the EDS1 gene.
In a second example to show the effectiveness of RNAi, an Arabidopsis line transformed with the PI RNAi construct resulted in elimination of petal formation. The PI gene is known to be associated with flower development in this plant.
Knockout of the EDS1 gene in the Brassica transgenic lines resulting in susceptibility to A. candida and knock out of the PI gene in Arabidopsis resulting in the elimination of petal formation in Arabidopsis both show that RNAi effectively affects plant characteristics and is a successful tool to modify an expression of a candidate gene.
Software Tools used: Microsoft Publisher 2007 Hardware Tools Used: digital camera Source of the Idea: Biotechnology is a topic which was of great interest to me. Learning that there was a technique (RNAi) made me want to research more of its potential. Special Skills: None Awards: None Past Projects: www.virtualsciencefair.org/2006/adam6s2 www.virtualsciencefair.org/2007/adam7s2
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Modifying Plant CharacteristicsUsing RNA Interference |