What Happened to My Garden?

Part I: Introduction
Bill’s grandparents have had a garden for as long as he could remember. As they got
older, he helped them with the heavy lifting, moving dirt, digging potatoes, etc. But
they still did most of the work, and reaped the fruits and vegetables of their labors
most years.

But this year was different. His grandparents’ peppers, kale, potatoes, and other
vegetables were not only not thriving, they were dying – all of them. It had been an
exceptionally wet year; usually they had to water everyday, but there had been
enough rain to limit watering. In addition, Bill had set them up with a catchment
system to catch and collect rainwater off the roof of their house. They had been
using this to water the plants this year. His grandparents thought this water might
be affecting their crops, or maybe it was the hailstorm they had early in the season.
They had always saved seeds to replant every year, so that shouldn’t be a problem,
should it? They also had new neighbors who had planted a garden right across the
fence. They were a young family, just moved in, and they started their garden a bit
late, but his grandparents were giving them advice.

1. What do you think could be causing Bill’s grandparents’ garden to die off?
Describe a few possibilities.

It is possible that the plants had been receiving too much water, and were
effectively drowned. An additional possibility is that somehow the rainwater
which had been collected was somehow contaminated, though I personally
find this to be an unlikely scenario. Finally, it is possible that, because the
neighbors have their garden on the opposite side of the fence, they may be
using some sort of pesticide that has gotten in contact with Bill's
grandparent's plants.

2. Choose one of your explanations above (hypotheses), and construct an

experiment to test it.

To test if the plants are dying from over-watering, an experiment could be

established. If the data is available, you could gather information on the
amount of rainfall during the period where the plant's decline was observed.
You could then plant all of the plants which died off, and test regularly
watering them in a fashion that would simulate the same amount of rainfall
mixed with any additional watering that occurred. An additional control
group could be set aside that is watered regularly as if there had been no rain
or a minimal amount. The only concern with this experiment is that it may
take several weeks to properly conduct.
Part II: Testing
Bill was a fourth-year student at the local university, and was studying agriculture.
He knew a couple students who were doing research in plant physiology and
toxicity, and thought he might ask them what they thought. One of his friends
thought his professor might be able to help, so Bill emailed the professor asking for
help. After a week, he heard back. The professor wanted him to bring in a sample.
When he brought by the sample, he didn’t realize he was signing up for more work:
the professor paired him up with a new graduate student, Fernando, and told them
to figure it out. Fernando had a couple of ideas, and they began their testing. Their
first goal was to examine the plant tissues under a microscope using special stains
for chloroplasts. The chloroplasts were definitely damaged, and much of the tissue
was dead.

1. What cellular process occurs in the chloroplast?

Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplast.

2. What would happen to a plant that could not perform this process? Be as
specific as possible.

A plant unable to perform photosynthesis would die. The plant would no

longer be able to take in light to perform photosynthesis, which utilizes light
to help break down carbon dioxide into oxygen and glucose, providing the
plant with energy. Without the energy provided by the glucose through
photosynthesis, the plant would not be able to perform vital functions, as it
would have no energy to draw on, which would inevitably lead to its death.

Part III: More Results

Bill and Fernando continued testing. Bill told Fernando about the water collection,
the hailstorm, and the neighbor’s garden. Fernando thought about this, and
wondered aloud, “You said the neighbor’s garden was put in late. I wonder if they
might have sprayed an herbicide to kill the weeds before planting. If they did, this
might explain why your grandparents’ garden is dying, particularly the plants on
one side.” So they set out testing for herbicides in the dead plants, and came up with
the second most commonly used: atrazine.

1. How does atrazine act to kill plants?

Atrazine works by inhibiting photosynthesis. This is done by “competitively

associating with the plastoquinone B (QB) binding site of the D1 subunit of
PSII, and therefore [blocking] chloroplast electron flow from plastoquinone A
to QB, greatly reducing the production of ATP, nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), and CO2 fixation” (Zhu et al. 2009). Put
more simply, atrazine prevents photosynthesis from occurring by preventing
chloroplasts from doing their job, and producing ATP. Without the ATP, the
plan will begin to gradually die, as it has no source of energy to draw upon.
 2. Predict how this would affect both parts of photosynthesis. Be as detailed as
possible, and include in your answer both of the main steps in
photosynthesis.

There are two parts to photosynthesis, the light-dependent reactions and

light-independent reactions. During the former, the energy from sunlight is
used by the chlorophyll to create molecules such as ATP and NADPH.
Molecules of water are split during this phase, creating oxygen molecules, as
well as ATP and NADPH. It's during this early phase that oxygen is released
from the cell and thus the plant itself. Next, during the Calvin Cycle, CO2 is
broken down into sugar molecules with the help of the recently formed ATP
and NADPH (Campbell et al., 1999).

This second stage that was just mentioned, the Calvin Cycle, is what occurs
during the light-independent reactions, a phase which does not directly
require light to perform its functions. During this phase, the energy that was
produced during the light-dependent phase is then used to produce
carbohydrates from carbon dioxide molecules.

During the light-dependent reactions, atrazine should have no direct effect

on the photosynthesis of the plant. The cytochrome complex, which is an
enzyme and part of the electron transport chain, helps to transfer electrons
from the carrier molecule plastoquinone to the protein plastocyanin (Clark et
al., 2018). This process culminates in the splitting of H2O molecules into two
hydrogen and one oxygen atom. These hydrogen atoms are then used to help
synthesize ATP.

Because atrazine binds to the enzyme plastoquinone, it prevents this

transfer/exchange from occurring, and thus preventing the creation of ATP.
This causes the entire light-independent reaction phase to be disrupted,
effectively preventing the Calvin cycle from properly finishing.

Part IV: The Reveal

The new neighbors were deeply apologetic and offered to share whatever fruits and
vegetables they were able to grow. His grandparents took it well, and were lucky
enough not to totally rely on the garden for food. However, it did get Bill thinking
about how important photosynthesis is, not only to humans, but to all life on earth.

1. In a paragraph or two, describe the importance of photosynthesis to life on

earth.

The importance of photosynthesis to life on Earth can not be understated. All

animals on this planet require oxygen in one way or another to survive, and
effectively all land-dwelling animals depend on oxygen being present in the
air to allow them to breathe. Photosynthesis is of vital importance to life on
 earth, as it produces the vast quantities of oxygen needed to sustain life.
Because plants and certain other organisms are able to photosynthesize the
CO2 in our planet, they can produce a continuous source of oxygen for us and
other animals to live off of. Without photosynthesis, there would be no life on
Earth.

2. Bill also started thinking about the damage herbicides can cause if not used
properly. In a paragraph or two, describe one to two of the dangers of
atrazine in particular. Remember to cite your sources using APA Style.

Fortunately, atrazine does not appear to be of any significant risk to humans.

It is noted as having a very low toxicity when breathed in (Hanson et al.,
2020). Skin exposure may cause a mild irritation, but also has a low toxicity
when applied to the skin. It is also noted that atrazine is not toxic to consume
unless a large quantity were to be consumed, meaning that it could be
considered a fairly safe herbicide for humans (Hanson et al., 2020).

Of potential concern is atrazine breaking down over time. Without water,

atrazine has a half-life of 578 days in water, and 168 days in water exposed
to sunlight (Hanson et al., 2020). In soil, it is noted to have a half life of 60-75
days, and may persist longer in colder climates. Because of this, without
careful application, atrazine may still cause damage to other, unintended
plants. This could be done by affecting plants in close proximity to an area
exposed to atrazine, or if atrazine was to make contact with the water supply
that other plants have access to.

Finally, atrazine is potentially dangerous to wildlife. It is found to be

moderately toxic to many fish, and highly toxic to freshwater and marine
invertebrates, such as shrimp (Hanson et al., 2020). It is also noted that the
EPA concluded that 52 out of 59 species of birds would raise fewer young if
they were exposed to atrazine (Hanson et al., 2020). Because of this, it is
important to be cautious about the application of atrazine, as it can have a
significant impact on local wildlife. Amphibians, birds, rodents, and fish are
all at potential risks should atrazine become prevalent in a local water
source, or even in the soil around the affected area.
 References

Campbell, N. A., Reece, J. B., Mitchell, L. G. (1999) Biology, 5th Edition. Benjamin-
Cummings Publication Co

Clark, M. A., Jung, C., & Douglas, M. (2018). Biology 2e. Houston: OpenStax.

Hanson, W., Strid, A., Gervais, J., Cross, A., Jenkins, J. (2020) Atrazine Fact Sheet;
National Pesticide Information Center, Oregon State University Extension
Services. [Link]/factsheets/[Link].

Zhu, J., Patzoldt, W.L., Radwan, O., Tranel, P.J. and Clough, S.J. (2009), Effects of
Photosystem-II-Interfering Herbicides Atrazine and Bentazon on the Soybean
Transcriptome. The Plant Genome, 2:.
[Link]