Circadian rhythm: effect of sodium in tobacco plant circadian regulation

Abstract

The rising demand for agriculture production due to growing number of global population required advance technology in crop development thus genetically modified plants was introduced to increase the crops’ productivity. However genetically modified product recently had arise a few concerns that may related to possible danger or risk in human body and environment. In this research, a new approach to increase crops’ productivity was studied by modifying the plants circadian rhythm. Tobacco was chosen as plant sample since it’s the first plant that was genetically modified and due to its distinctive qualities in physiology related to day length rhythm. A demonstration of the circadian clocks controlling the elongation of tobacco upon germination was done by using sodium as the controlled variable. The goal was to provide an overview how external cue may affect the biological clock of plants. Bio-plastic fertilizer was synthesized as sodium supplier and expected to release sodium in a slow rate manner. The rate of sodium release by bio-plastic fertilizer was evaluated by using flame photometer. The findings revealed that, bio-plastic fertilizer synthesize in this study was failed to act as a controlled-released fertilizer while sodium does contribute in modifying the tobacco circadian rhythm; however the different concentration of sodium applied to the tobacco seed does not gave significant changes in the germination rate. Additionally, this study produced significant and relevant information for future studies regarding plants’ biological clock.