Organism Module Lab Report - Answer Key Total: 40 marks (worth 4% of final grade) Part 1: Experiment Outline 1. Plant Classification (a) How are these plants classified? Fill in the information for the following plants (entering the common name into Wikipedia works well). Be careful with your spelling. Then, on a scale of 1-5 (1 is least likely; 5 is most likely), indicate whether you think the plant might be a suitable host (food source) for the tobacco hornworm, based on this information. There are no marks for your "Host?" answers but you'll need to explain your rationale in 1(b). Class/ Clade Asterids Order Family Genus Species Common Name jasmine tobacco Host? Asterids benthamiana Asterids Aztec tobacco Asterids tomato Asterids jalapeno pepper Asterids signet marigold Asterids common snapdragon Asterids common milkweed (b) Briefly explain the rationale for your answers in the "Host?" column; i.e. based on relatedness, why did you think each plant would or would not be a suitable host for the tobacco hornworm? (2 marks) 2. Defense Compounds (a) Given the following information about key chemical defense compounds, assess again (using the same scale of 1-5) whether you think the plant might be a suitable host for the tobacco hornworm. Again, there are no marks for these answers, but you'll need to explain your rationale in 2(b). Plant Key Leaf Defense Defense Compound Mode of Action Compoun Host
jasmine tobacco nicotine (alkaloid) benthamiana nicotine (alkaloid) Aztec tobacco nicotine (alkaloid) tomato solanine (alkaloid) jalapeno pepper solanine (alkaloid) signet marigold common snapdragon common milkweed (steroid) Compound limonene (terpenoid) antirrhinoside (iridoid glycoside) cardenolide bitter tasting, acetylcholine mimic (binds acetylcholine receptors) present bitter tasting, inhibits acetylcholinesterase (prevents the breakdown of acetylcholine) present bitter tasting, destroys the wax layer of insect cuticles present bitter tasting, binds to nucleophilic side chains (denatures amino acids, nucleic acids) present bitter tasting, inhibits Na+/K+-ATPase (disrupts membrane ion gradients) present d in ? Leaves? low/absent present present (b) Given this new information, briefly explain why your answers in the "Host?" column changed or stayed the same. (2 marks) Provide the following information about your research team's herbivory experiment (2 marks): fl. Research question: 4. Hypothesis and prediction: 5. Independent variable: 6. Experimental/control groups and number of biological replicates in each (herbivory experiment): 7. Qualitative observations: tt. List 2 confounding variables that could impact your herbivory experiment and explain how to minimize the impact of each one (2 marks):
Part 2: Communicating Your Findings Here is your chance to show off your work! Remember to treat this as a real scientific study conducted by a team of researchers (i.e., everyone in your lab section). A: Results General Notes About Presenting Your Data (applies to all figures): - your figures should clearly illustrate your research team's data - include labels as required so your reader knows what they're looking at - present your data in a way that best addresses your hypothesis (always keep in mind what you are trying to show your reader) - include a concise figure