A Comparison of Rubisco Expression of Leaves, Petals, and Stems in Flowering Plants of the Genera Chrysanthemum and Dianthus
Katie Criswell & Elizabeth Nguyen
Chrysanthemum Dianthus
* pictures were taken from digital camera*
The Rubisco enzyme can be found in photosynthetic pathways where it captures and fixes carbon dioxide to ribulose bisphosphate molecule, a short five carbon sugar chain. This helps in the conversion of light energy to usable chemical energy. Rubisco is a protein made up of eight small subunits and eight large subunits which can be found in plastids such as chloroplasts, leucoplasts and chromoplasts. In order to understand the levels of genetic expressions of Rubisco protein and DNA in leaves, stems and petals, plant samples from the genera Chrysanthemum and Dianthus were used. It was hypothesized that the Rubisco protein would be more abundant in leaves and subsequently more abundant in stems than petals. It is also hypothesized that Rubisco DNA would be found in equal amounts in leaves, stems and petals. Analysis of Rubisco protein concentration was done using Native PAGE gels, SDS PAGE gels and Western blot procedures. Analysis of Rubisco DNA was done using PCR analysis and Agarose Gel Electrophoresis procedures. It was found that stems contained the most Rubisco protein for both plants, concluding that the stems' photosynthetic capabilities were underestimated. Rubisco DNA was found most in the stems of Chrysanthemum and leaves of Dianthus, which showed that Rubisco DNA was found more in photosynthetic plant parts. Further knowledge of Rubisco expression can lead to better understanding of the function of Rubisco in different parts of plants.
Introduction Methods Results Discussion