Date of Submission

Spring 2021

Academic Program

Environmental and Urban Studies

Project Advisor 1

Elias Dueker

Abstract/Artist's Statement

Many gram-negative bacteria use quorum sensing to assess population densities and cooperate with another. The quorum sensing autoinducers N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) have been found to cause altered gene expression patterns in plants, resulting in increased root and shoot growth as well as induced pathogenic resistance in various species. Researchers have begun exploring the ways AHLs may be used in agricultural systems to reduce the use of environmentally harmful synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In this study, the effect of priming arugula (Eruca sativa) seeds with the short-chain AHL C6-HSL was investigated at Bard Farm in Annandale-On-Hudson, New York. Leaf lengths of AHL-primed, water-primed and control plants were compared to investigate the effect of AHL seed priming on arugula growth. The study sought to also analyze the effects C6-HSL may have on the bacterial diversity and dominant functional groups present in root and root soil samples collected from the plants, though metagenomic analysis ultimately could not be performed due to COVID-19 related delays in DNA sequencing. Soil moisture and temperature was measured three times over the course of the experiment to contextualize results. Soil samples of the experiential plot were also collected before and after the in-field portion of the experiment for metagenomic analysis. The study ultimately found C6-HLS seed priming to have no significant effect on leaf length (P=1.57). Metagenomic analysis will be performed once the sequenced samples are available.

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Open Access

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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