Graduate Student University of Vermont South Burlington, Vermont
Body of Abstract: Plant Development is a complex process that can be affected by many different environmental factors including abiotic stress. Salt stress is an abiotic stress that affects the development of legume roots and is increasing as the planet warms. In response to abiotic stress plants use the hormone abscisic acid (ABA) to modulate growth and physiology. I will use imunolabeling and confocal microscopy to track the accumulation of ABA in young roots identify changes that may occur when the plant is experiencing salt stress. We have found that ABA accumulates in the endodermis of young roots in M. truncatula and at lower levels in the cortex and the stele. I propose to use a Bayesian approach to build a model for the accumulation of ABA in salt-stressed roots. Creating a model will help to identify the extent of the effect of salt stress on ABA accumulation.