The Effects of Elevated Carbon Dioxide on the Density and Mutation rates of the Trichomes, as well as the Rosette Development of Arabidopsis thaliana in the Presence of Azacytidine

Abstract

With the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide rising, it is important to understand how flora will adapt to this new environment. To this end, the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana was utilized to examine phenotypic responses to changes in carbon dioxide levels in wildtype and epimutated plants. The primary goal of this research was to examine how the epimutagen Azacytidine alters patterns of trichome development in ambient and elevated carbon dioxide. This examination revealed that trichome and rosette development was not significantly affected by exposure to Azacytidine or elevated levels of Carbon Dioxide. However while bolting and flowering times did not respond to exposure to Azacytidine, both were altered by carbon dioxide levels decreased both flowering and bolting times of Arabidopsis thaliana.