About This Project

Plant models offer an overlooked yet powerful framework for teaching biotechnology and STEM skills. This multi-week experiment integrates hydroponics, tissue culture, hormone manipulation, and rhizobium nodulation to explore nitrogen fixation and nodulation efficiency. Students use qPCR and Nanopore 16S barcoding to analyze gene expression and microbial diversity. This problem-based learning experiment equips students with a challenge, fosters critical thinking and collaboration.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Plant Awareness Disparity (PAD) is a term coined to describe the tendency for humans to overlook plants in favor of animals. This can be extended to biotechnology as many biotechnology programs in education tend to focus on model animal or microbial systems. Our most advanced biology classes like AP biology fail to teach plants beyond Mendelian genetics, plant vs animal cell types, transpiration and photosynthesis. However, plant biotechnology is important to food scarcity, increased crop production and nutriton in the face of climate change. Plant model tissue propagation is an easier entry point for high school students and still provide robust potential for molecular and genomic analysis. This project synergizes the learning of biotech skills and experimentation.

What is the significance of this project?

Plants are underepresented in high school biology and biotechnology classes, yet agricultural biotechnology is a multi-billion dollar industry. Plant models provide an opportunity for students to perform rich biotechnology experiments that combine macro-scale plant tissue propogation and molecular analysis. The data collected from these experiments will be important in the development of these students as potential researchers and developing career-based skills. This investment will pay dividends as students enter research institutions or biotech related careers. Unlike most projects, this one is focused on the education, experiemnce and development of children and not specific scientific results.

What are the goals of the project?

The main experimental goal for students is to investigate whether varied plant growth hormones applied during tissue culture, affect the ability of plants to form nodulation symbiosis as assessed through the expression of nitrogen fixation and nodulation genes. Clonal soybean leaf tissues will be exposed to dilutions of plant growth hormones, then inoculated with rhizobia bacteria as adults. Students will use relative qPCR assays to evaluate root tissue and bacteria for nitrogen fixing and nodulation gene expression. Nanopore 16S barcoding of nodule bacteria will be used to detect bacterial assemblages changes from prior plant hormone exposure.

Pedagogical goals include assessing student learning of biotechnology skills embedded into the project-based experiment, maintaining a detailed lab notebook as learning evidence, and collaborative decision making throughout the experiment.