The Effect of L-Theanine and Vitamin B12 in C. Elegans Exposed to A Neonicotinoid Pesticide Environment

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

11th Grade

Presentation Topic

Environmental Science

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Oral Presentation Award

4th Place

Abstract

Bee colony collapse disorder has been on the radar of scientists for many years because the bee population continues to decrease year after year with no obvious reason for the decline. Scientists have speculated for these causes and have come up with one main culprit: neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonicotinoid pesticides cause neurological functions to fail and in high dosages, cause death. Their chemical structure is similar to nicotine which are known harmful substances to all living species. These pesticides are introduced to the system by farmers spraying them onto the flowers that the bees land on to start their pollination process. To mimic these effects, C. elegans were used as model species to exhibit the effects of the pesticide and hopefully be the recipient of chemical treatments. To best show the effects of the pesticide and the treatments, the mortality rate of the C. elegans was recorded. It was hypothesized that the control group of just pesticide-exposed C. elegans would have the highest mortality rate while the L-theanine treatment group would have the lowest mortality rate. The results indicated that the control group had the highest chance of surviving at around 27% while the vitamin B-12 had a low chance of surviving at around 8%. The hypothesis was not supported because the L-theanine group had a mere 12% of survival. Based on the results, the treatments actually harmed the nematodes and the control group displayed the highest survival rate. A one-way ANOVA was conducted at a confidence level of α=0.01 to test the significance of the survival rate between the three groups demonstrated that the data was significant at p< .001.

Location

Founders Hall 213 C

Start Date

3-30-2019 9:00 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 30th, 9:00 AM

The Effect of L-Theanine and Vitamin B12 in C. Elegans Exposed to A Neonicotinoid Pesticide Environment

Founders Hall 213 C

Bee colony collapse disorder has been on the radar of scientists for many years because the bee population continues to decrease year after year with no obvious reason for the decline. Scientists have speculated for these causes and have come up with one main culprit: neonicotinoid pesticides. Neonicotinoid pesticides cause neurological functions to fail and in high dosages, cause death. Their chemical structure is similar to nicotine which are known harmful substances to all living species. These pesticides are introduced to the system by farmers spraying them onto the flowers that the bees land on to start their pollination process. To mimic these effects, C. elegans were used as model species to exhibit the effects of the pesticide and hopefully be the recipient of chemical treatments. To best show the effects of the pesticide and the treatments, the mortality rate of the C. elegans was recorded. It was hypothesized that the control group of just pesticide-exposed C. elegans would have the highest mortality rate while the L-theanine treatment group would have the lowest mortality rate. The results indicated that the control group had the highest chance of surviving at around 27% while the vitamin B-12 had a low chance of surviving at around 8%. The hypothesis was not supported because the L-theanine group had a mere 12% of survival. Based on the results, the treatments actually harmed the nematodes and the control group displayed the highest survival rate. A one-way ANOVA was conducted at a confidence level of α=0.01 to test the significance of the survival rate between the three groups demonstrated that the data was significant at p< .001.