Volume 6, Spring 2008 - Saddleback College

Fall 2007 Biology 3A Abstracts
25. THE EFFECTS OF VITAMINS A, C, AND E ON THE GERMINATION OF RADISH SEEDS. Madina
Ali and Rhonda Cheikh, Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College , Mission Viejo,
California, USA
To study the protective effects of antioxidant, Vitamin A, C, and E were added to Radish Seeds that
were placed in a hostile environment containing hydrogen peroxide. To study vitamins protective effects
as antioxidants, vitamin A, C, and E were added. The purpose of this project was to determine which type
of vitamin is most effective for protecting plant cells against free radicals. Our results indicated that
vitamin E was the vitamin that had the most germinating seeds in all three trails, but it wasn’t by much.
The seed that had the least amount of germination was the one exposed to vitamin C. This experiment
showed the effects of free radicals on seed germination, and the helpful effects of antioxidants. This
experiment is relevant to our everyday lives because free radicals and antioxidants can affect us in
carrying out a healthy lifestyle.
26. THE EFFECTS OF ACID RAIN ON O 2 PRODUCTION IN ELODEA (Elodea camadensis). Nicole K.
Baumgartner and Karl M. Neil. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo,
California, 92692, USA
The majority of acid rain is the result of human emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds which react
in the atmosphere to produce acids. Acidic rain harmfully affects aquatic life by lowering the pH of
aquatic environments. It was predicted that decreasing the pH of the environment of elodea would
decrease its oxygen production. Using a volumetric pipette and syringe as a manometer, individual
samples of elodea were placed in solutions of differing pHs. The amount of time it took to produce ten
milliliters of oxygen was measured using the constructed manometers, keeping temperature constant. At
a pH of four, corrected mean time to produce 10mL of gas was 1.27 ± 0.17 min. At a pH of 7, corrected
mean time to produce 10mL of gas was 0.14 ± 0.01 min. Time to produce 10mL of gas at a pH of four
was significantly different (p = 7.088 x 10 -5 ) from a pH of seven.
27. EFFECT OF NORMAL SALINE AND CONTACT LENS SOLUTION ON THE EPITHELIUM OF THE
CORNEA. Larry T. Lam. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo,
California, 92692, USA.
The tonicity of a solution depends on its concentration of solutes relative to the cell itself (Campbell
and Reece, 2005). It has been suggested that normal saline solution (0.9% NaCl) can be used as an
alternative to commercial contact solution. In the current study, the hypothesis that will be tested is
normal saline will not be significantly different than Bausch and Lomb contact lens solution in lubrication
of the eye and ocular irritation. Rabbit corneas were treated with both solutions, stained using a
live/dead cell protocol, and imaged with a Zeiss confocal microscope. The number of dead cells was
quantified per scan and the data for each treatment was compared. The mean for the normal saline
treated tissues samples was 7.11 + 1.39 (+ standard error) dead cells per 350 m by 350 m. The
mean for the Bausch and Lomb treated tissues samples was 4.44 + 0.74 (+ standard error) dead cells
per 350 m by 350 m. In a two-tailed t-test, the p-value was 0.129 showing that there was no
significant difference in using normal saline and commercial contact lens solution.
28. THE EFFECT OF JADE PLANT ON ESCHERICHIA COLI. Kasra Abolhosseini and Harrison Pham,
Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, California, 92692, USA.
A common household plant, the jade plant, was used to determine its effectiveness in the prevention
of bacteria growth of the bacterium, Escherichia coli. Leaves harvested from the jade plant placed in
light and dark conditions were used in this study. Being that the jade plant is a CAM plant, it absorbs
carbon dioxide at night, therefore leaves gathered from the dark conditioned plant were assumed to be
more effective at killing bacteria than the leaves gathered from the day plant because of the acidity
differences.
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Saddleback Journal of Biology
Spring 2008