How Does Your Garden Grow?

Our plant has shown growth over the past weeks. Growth is just an easier way of saying that our plant is going through mitosis, a form of cell division. When a cell undergoes mitosis, the chromosomes in that cell, divide into two identical sets of chromosomes. In simpler terms, you started with one cell, and it split into two. Cell division, as mentioned in my previous blog post, is what made our plant grow. With out the cells multiplying themselves, our broccoli would've stayed as a seedling. The more cells there are, the more biomass the plant will have.
None of this growth would have been possible without photosynthesis. Photosynthesis allows our plant to use light energy to make food for itself. Cells require food to reproduce. Just like humans, plants need food and the nutrients food brings, to make themselves grow. The food our plant produces for itself is mainly glucose, or commonly known as sugar. Through cellular respiration, our plant will convert the energy found in glucose into ATP. Cells use ATP to supply their energy needs. During the process of respiration, cells release energy. The energy cells release is used to provide energy for essential processes in all living things. In conclusion, cell division is reliant on photosynthesis and respiration for energy to help the plant grow.
If a signal was sent to the nucleus to make more of the enzymes PEPC and Rubisco (two important enzymes in photosynthesis), the process would start with the nucleus of many of the plant's cells sending a message to the Rough ER. The sequence of DNA include instructions for building enzymes. The rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) synthesizes proteins. Enzymes are made out of proteins. Therefore, the nucleus would tell the RER to make more proteins, so the proteins can form enzymes.
By making more of these special enzymes used in photosynthesis, the plant might be able to grow faster. This may be possible because photosynthesis and the energy produced in respiration are required for cell division. If these enzymes are able to speed up photosynthesis, it might lead to more cell division in a shorter period of time.