Fernanda Paramo and Tammy Gonzalez

Grant Proposal
Chalcone synthase (chs/tt4) is an enzyme that produces the purple pigment anthocyanin. Arabidopsis
plants usually contain little anthocyanin, but under conditions like ultraviolet (UV) light, they make CHS
and therefore anthocyanin, which protects the plant from UV light. In Arabidopsis, CHS is coded by a
single gene at the TT4 locus, and tt4 mutants have yellow seeds and remain green under white light
conditions. Ultraviolet light is a form of radiation which is not visible to the human eye. It's in an invisible
part of the "electromagnetic spectrum". UV light causes normal wild-type Arabidopsis plants to turn
purple, which protects the plant from the radiation. In the CHS/tt4 mutant, this gene has been removed.
Therefore, we expect our mutant to not change color to purple when put under UV light.
UV Light
Ultraviolet light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, its wavelengths are shorter than visible light.
The suns light helps it produce food by giving it energy. Plants have the ability to produce sugars and
starches which are important to the entire food chain. Ultraviolet light has an effect on the plants growth.
We believe that if we let the plants sit under the UV light, our plants might end up looking physically
different. The mutant plant color might be the most noticeable change, the controlled plant physical
appearance might be distinct, mostly its structure.
We are testing UV lights effect on wild-type and CHS-tt4 mutant Arabidopsis. We are testing the UV
light because the radiation affects all living organisms. DNA readily absorbs UV-B radiation, which
commonly changes the shape of the molecule in one of several ways. Changes in the DNA molecule often
mean that protein-building enzymes cannot read the DNA code at that point on the molecule. As a
result, distorted proteins can be made, or cells can die.

How is this mutant genetically different from a wild-type plant?

Chs produces flavonoids that create pigmentations of different colors by using light energy. They are
responsible for many of the plant colors, brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red.

What do you think the genes function might be?

It mostly depends on the lighting. Sometimes it might reflect purple-ish colors instead of greens, or may
sometimes change to a completely different color.
Which gene has been altered? How has it been altered?
The CHS/TT4 gene gets altered by DNA that is put in the gene. The gene pigmentation gets altered, with
the light that it receives, the color can get altered by reflecting to a purple-ish color.
What is a healthy/normal function of the gene?
The genes function is how the plant ends up looking. Mostly the physical appearance (color is what the
gene is going for).
How might the mutant plant look/behave differently than a wild type?
The plant might have a different physical appearance. The most significant thing might be its color.

Materials:
Wild type seeds
mutant seeds
Water
UV lighting
Soil w/ fertilizer
Large tray with holes
Methods (control):
Plant seeds to germinate (3-5)days
Method (experimental):
Have 3 different mutant plants under UV light for different amount of times
One plant will be under UV light 24/7 (Fernanda and Tammy)
Another plant will be under UV light for 7 hours (Karina and Jordan)
The last plant will be under UV light for 3 hours (Memo and Rodrigo)