Non Germinating Peas Essay

The carbon and energy obtained by plants is not only dependent on photosynthesis, but also cellular respiration (Reddy et al. 1970). Cellular respiration, an array of metabolic processes, in plants is the oxidation of the chemical energy from acquired nutrients into energy in the form of ATP or adenosine triphosphate. In a germinating pea, which respires, the mitochondria provides cellular ATP, this is possible because it is utilizing stored nutrients (Stupnikova et al. 2006) In order to determine if a non-germinating pea respires, its respiration rates can be quantified by being placed in respiration chamber with CO2 and O2 sensors attached. Determining the respiration rates of germinating peas and non-germinating peas will aid in furthering
the understanding of whether peas undergo cellular respiration before germination begins. The control group’s, the non-germinating peas, respiration rate was compared to that of room temperature germinating peas and cool germinating peas. For further investigation, the respiration rate of the non-germinating peas was compared to that of insects, lima beans, leaves stored in light, and leaves stored in dark. All experimental groups were under the independent variables of time and constant room temperature and also underwent five 180 second trials. The tested hypotheses stated: If the non-germinating peas do not respire then there will be no rise in the CO2 respiration rate and no fall of oxygen levels; If the leaves in the light respire more than the leaves in the dark then there will be a higher rise in CO2 in the light leaves and the oxygen levels would decrease less; If the insects respire more than the lima beans then there will be a higher rise in CO2 and lower decline in O2 when testing the insects compared to testing the beans.