3.4 Khan. The Inhibitive Effect of Salicylic Acid on Martian Catalase

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[4] Bernoulli’s Principle. URL: https : / / www . princeton . edu / ~asmits / Bicycle _ web /

Bernoulli.html (cited on page 24). [5] Dihedral. URL: https : / / www . grc . nasa . gov / www / k - 12 / airplane / geom . html (cited on page 26). Chapter 3. Life Science

[6] Tail Arm. URL: https : / / www . amaflightschool.org/getstarted/how- doi - understand - basic - aerodynamics (cited on page 27).

3.4 The Inhibitive Effect of Salicylic Acid on Martian Catalase

By Ilyas Khan ’22

Background:

Catalase is a crucial enzyme for all aerobic life on Earth. By breaking down H2O2 or Hydrogen Peroxide into water and oxygen, catalase prevents the creation of hydroxyl groups which can destroy DNA and other building blocks of cellular life. How catalase behaves can also be an indication of how closely two organisms are related, or if they are related at all. This experiment tests a recently discovered Martian form of catalase with Terrestrial catalase inhibitors. It is well documented that at a concentration between 100 µ M and 10 mM, salicylic acid will inhibit most varieties of Terrestrial catalase. If this holds true in Martian catalase, its similarities could help determine the relatedness of Terrestrial and Martian species.

Concentration in M and Absorption of control reaction solutions as measured after three-minute trial:

Time(min) [H2O2] (M) A500

Blank 0 0 0 0.00246 1.3 0.5 0.00116 0.614 1 0.00121 0.638 1.5 0.00085 0.448 2 0.000417 0.22 2.5 0.000239 0.126 3 0.00011 0.058

Concentration and absorbency of treatment reaction solutions as measured after three-minute trial:

Time(min) [H2O2] with acid A500

Blank 0.0000114 0.006 0 0.00164 0.866 0.5 0.00137 0.72 1 0.00152 0.8 1.5 0.000736 0.388 2 0.00088 0.464 2.5 0.000364 0.192 3 0.000228 0.12 Discussion:

The data collected displays a clear lack of understanding around the functioning of the Martian catalase enzyme. With little difference between control and treatment trials, this form of catalase may not function the same way as the catalase found on Earth. However, there is not sufficient data to rule out the possibility that all differences can be accounted for by various errors in the process of the experiment. This is particularly plausible because of the discrepancies between the initial data points and trendlines.

References [1] Uwe Conrath. Two Inducers of Plant Defense Responses, 2,6-Dichloroisonicotinic Acid and Salicylic Acid, Inhibit Catalase Activity in Tobacco. May 1995. URL: https : / / www . pnas . org / content/pnas/92/16/7143.full.pdf. [2] J Durner and D F Klessig. Salicylic Acid Is a Modulator of Tobacco and Mammalian Catalases. Nov. 1996. URL: https : / / pubmed . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov/8910477/.