Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello, thank you for your time in this matter.
I wish to do a project with chlorophyll extraction. I found some information on Leaf senescence. What could be a good reason for doing this project? I know about chromatography already and how the colors separate. I read that leaves use the senescence stage as a kind of recycling of nutrients. I need to come up with a procedure. In my research I will have to mention current research in this area and what are the benefits. Should I consider studying the plant cells? Is there a way I can do the study just by smearing the leaves then using filter paper to separate the different colors during different seasons, like when the colors change in the fall. Thank you for your help.

Hi,

Here is a short Science Buddies experimental writeup on chlorophyl, giving a few reasons to do such a project:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... g&from=TSW

Here are some other reasons to investigate this area:

http://www.researchportal.be/en/project ... UA_21100)/

http://www.ab.ipw.agrl.ethz.ch/~yfracheb/flex.htm

http://www.crisp.nus.edu.sg/~acrs2001/pdf/249ENDO.pdf

My personal fascination is with chloroplasts, and how and why they move when illuminated with light:

http://askville.amazon.com/SimilarQuest ... lant-cells

http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/reprint/54/3/231.pdf

This is my favorite demonstration:

http://plantsinmotion.bio.indiana.edu/p ... gpics.html

Hope this is what you were interested in!

Have fun with it!

Barrett Tomlinson

There seems to be a bug in the sciencebuddies software.

Clicking on the first "other reasons to investigate" yields a page not found. The ")" is displayed on the screen, but not incorporated in the URL passed to the browser, at least not on my system.

One way to get to what I think is the webpage you're after is to select:
http://www.researchportal.be/en/project ... hlorophyl+
and then select:
the "Chlorophyl fluorescence" link.

Another way is manually add back the ")" at the end of the URL that gets a page not found.

Hi,

I did not realize when I first replied to your post that your primary interest was in leaf senescence (I must be going blind or something, because your question was clearly stated.). Anyway, when I looked at leaf senescence , it looks really interesting and not very well understood. Here is a review of the subject, with references:
http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/sep25/articles19.htm

http://genomebiology.com/2004/5/3/212

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/20 ... .Bt.r.html

http://www.vcu.edu/csbc/bbsi/inst/cours ... _paper.pdf

http://www.rug.nl/biologie/onderzoek/on ... esearchPCD

http://www.plant-biology.com/Analysis-l ... scence.php

http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/FP03236.htm

http://crop.scijournals.org/cgi/content ... /40/4/1049

http://face.env.duke.edu/PDF/tp23-03.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_senescence

I think you will find this paper particularly interesting, as it discusses colored pigment changes during senescence of tree leaves, and the advantages they may confer on the tree:

http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/re ... s_2003.pdf

It appears to me that you can find many reasons to study the fate of chlorophyl during leaf senescence, and that the study will prove both interesting and worthwhile. Good luck on the project!!!!

Best regards,

Barrett Tomlinson