Teaching kits for Arabidopsis
Click here to view all 13 of these lines.
Description
Apart from the 'Plant Curiosity Kit', all of these education kits have been created by ABRC as part of their education and outreach programme. Some of them are part of specific American teaching modules but all can be followed as documentation and teaching aids are available from their website.
WARNING: Some of the kits contain transgenic material. If a kit contains transgenic material it is stated in its description. Order one of these kits only if approved to work with transgenic material.
PLEASE NOTE: If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order these kits from NASC. Click on the headings of the kits to order. Some are free of charge but others do incur a small fee.
Plant Curiosity Kit
This plant 'curiosity' kit is intended to encourage students to appreciate that mutant plants are interesting. The contents are simply a mix of seeds from several strikingly different Arabidopsis mutants. These can be planted out in the school or home and will grow in a matter of weeks to show variability. They will readily produce viable seeds that can then be replanted to demonstrate inheritance.
This kit is free to schools* that are teaching biology or general science to children with these resources.
* Following very many enquiries, 'Schools' in University Departments are not included in this definition and 'children' are expected to be under the age of consent / voting age. More importantly, other stocks, notably including transgenic lines may not be included in this order.
Click here for more information about this kit, including how to grow the seeds.
The kit contains the following seeds
| Stock No. | Plant | Phenotype Description |
|---|---|---|
| NW20 |
Landsberg erecta | Wild Type |
| NW30 |
brevipedicellus | seed pods bend downwards and the stem is kinked |
| N31 |
eceriferum | Plant with bright green stem |
| NW41 |
chlorina | Small yellow green plant |
| NW45 |
clavata | Plant with bent club shaped seed pods |
| NW64 |
glabra | Plant with no hairs on the leaves |
Reconstructing The Evolution Of Cauliflower And Broccoli
This set of 3 stocks (N6161, NW20, N26) are used in the US teaching module "RECONSTRUCTING THE EVOLUTION OF CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI". For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Play Mendel
This set of 4 seed stocks (NW20, N25, N28169, N28175) is used in the "PLAY MENDEL" module, a part of our American sister stock centre ABRC "Greening the Classroom" Teaching Modules. Students are first introduced to the causal relationship of genetic mutation and morphological variation by growing Arabidopsis plants with different genetic backgrounds ("wild type" and mutant) in their classrooms. Next, they follow and analyze inheritance and segregation of a trait (e.g. floral mutations, leaf hairs) to understand concepts central to Mendelian genetics.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
How Can Plants Tell Which Way Is Up?
This set of 2 seed stocks (N907, N210) is used to test mutant (pgm-1) and wild-type (Col) response to gravity, described in the publication "How Can Plants Tell Which Way Is Up?". The set of lab exercises described in this publication enables students to understand the basis of gravitropic response using starch synthesis mutant. It also introduces scientific concepts such as hypothesis testing and other statistical analyses.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Think Green
This set of 10 seed stocks (N70000, N76164, N28828, N22574, N28722, N6252, N3862, N21, N22, N8105)is used in the "THINK GREEN" module, a part of our American sister stock centre ABRC "Greening the Classroom" Teaching Modules. In this module, students will investigate how plant genotype and natural variation influence plant responses to environmental conditions and how this affects survival in a changing environment.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Promoter-Driven GUS Reporter Gene Expression
This set of 11 seed stocks (N25261, N16358, N25262, N3763, N6141, N6357, N6497, N70756, N70764, N8849) is used to demonstrate use of native promoter-driven reporter gene expression. Students will be able to observe distinct Beta-glucuronidase (GUS) expression patterns determined by the promoters of 11 genes with a very well-known function. Note that CS6357 and CS16358 represent translational fusions and nine other lines all represent transcriptional fusions.
Warning:This kit contains transgenic material. Order this kit only if approved to work with transgenic material.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Who Turned Out The Lights?
This set of 4 stocks (NW20, N6213, N6219, N6224) is used in the "WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?" module. Students will learn how plants sense differences in their light environment through the action of photoreceptors and respond by modifying their growth and development. The set includes wild type (non-mutant) Ler seeds, phytochrome A and phytochrome B mutant seeds, and double mutant seed in which both photoreceptors are mutated in the same plant.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Germination
This set of 5 stocks (N70000, N76390, N76412, N76384, N76387) is used in the US teaching module module "Germination". These natural variants, including a lab strain and four locally adapted lines from different climates, illustrate the variation in light and temperature requirements for germination in Arabidopsis. Students will germinate seeds in light and darkness following a 3 day cold (stratification) period or without stratification an observe differences in germination in the different natural variants.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Transposing Ffrom The Laboratory To The Classroom
This set of 6 stocks (N67774, N67775, N67776, N67777, N67778, N67779) is used in the US teaching module "TRANSPOSING FROM THE LABORATORY TO THE CLASSROOM". The module is a modified version of a published experiment where students experience how virtual transposable elements from rice (Oryza sativa) are assayed for function in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. As part of the module, students analyze the phenotypes and genotypes of transgenic plants to determine the requirements for transposition. After mastering the skills and concepts, students participate in an authentic research project where they use computational analysis and PCR to detect transposable element insertion site polymorphism in a panel of diverse maize strains.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Molecular Genotyping of Arabidopsis
This set of 2 stocks (NW20, N290) is used in the US teaching module "Molecular Genotyping of Arabidopsis". The goal of this laboratory is to introduce students to the action of transposons, plant DNA extraction and the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to compare diploid genotypes. A transposon insertion is identified in curly leaf (clf-2) mutant and Ler wild-type is used as a control.
Warning:This kit contains transgenic material. Order this kit only if approved to work with transgenic material.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Genetics of Arabidopsis thaliana
This set of 2 stocks (N70000, N6955) can be used to generate F2 plants used in the US teaching module "Genetics of Arabidopsis thaliana". In this module students use F2 plants of a dihybrid cross between gl1-1 hy4-B104 (cry1) double mutant and Col wild-type to follow the segregation of two independent traits as well as to explore the relationship between genotype and phenotype using molecular methods. Recommended for use in college-level courses.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
The gps Mutants of Arabidopsis
This set of 4 stocks (N2360, N67144, N67145, N67146) is used to demonstrate a range of altered responses to gravity of shoots and hypocotyls at room temperature after gravistimulation at 4C. It contains Ws wild type and gps mutants: no response (gps1), wrong way (gps2) and over achiever (gps3). GPS1 is a cytochrome P450 subunit, the identity of GPS2 and GPS3 is not known.
Warning:This kit contains transgenic material. Order this kit only if approved to work with transgenic material.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.
Plant Anatomy Set
This set of 8 GFP seed lines (N9210, N9217, N9244, N9245, N9247, N9249, N9251, N9266) from J. Haseloff and screened by Sarah Wyatt has been identified as a plant anatomy set for use in undergraduate / beginning graduate courses; this set includes lines expressing GFP in roots, shoots and flowers.
Warning:This kit contains transgenic material. Order this kit only if approved to work with transgenic material.
For more information see the ABRC Education and Outreach pages.
If you are NOT in the US or The Americas please order this kit from NASC.