Question

"William Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," by Jacqueline Ghodsi THE CHARACTERS (in

order of appearance):

• HAMLET, Prince of Denmark and student of Statistics

• POLONIUS, Hamlet’s tutor

• HOROTIO, friend to Hamlet and fellow student

Scene: The great library of the castle, in which Hamlet does his lessons

Act I

(The day is fair, but the face of Hamlet is clouded. He paces the large room. His tutor, Polonius, is reprimanding Hamlet

regarding the latter’s recent experience. Horatio is seated at the large table at right stage.)

POLONIUS: My Lord, how cans’t thou admit that thou hast seen a ghost! It is but a figment of your imagination!

HAMLET: I beg to differ; I know of a certainty that five-and-seventy in one hundred of us, condemned to the whips and

scorns of time as we are, have gazed upon a spirit of health, or goblin damn’d, be their intents wicked or charitable.

POLONIUS If thou doest insist upon thy wretched vision then let me invest your time; be true to thy work and speak to

me through the reason of the null and alternate hypotheses. (He turns to Horatio.) Did not Hamlet himself say, “What piece

of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties? Then let not this foolishness persist. Go, Horatio, make a

survey of three-and-sixty and discover what the true proportion be. For my part, I will never succumb to this fantasy, but

deem man to be devoid of all reason should thy proposal of at least five-and-seventy in one hundred hold true.

HORATIO (to Hamlet): What should we do, my Lord?

HAMLET: Go to thy purpose, Horatio.

HORATIO: To what end, my Lord?

HAMLET: That you must teach me. But let me conjure you by the rights of our fellowship, by the consonance of our youth,

but the obligation of our ever-preserved love, be even and direct with me, whether I am right or no.

(Horatio exits, followed by Polonius, leaving Hamlet to ponder alone.)

Act II

(The next day, Hamlet awaits anxiously the presence of his friend, Horatio. Polonius enters and places some books upon the

table just a moment before Horatio enters.)

POLONIUS: So, Horatio, what is it thou didst reveal through thy deliberations?

HORATIO: In a random survey, for which purpose thou thyself sent me forth, I did discover that one-and-forty believe

fervently that the spirits of the dead walk with us. Before my God, I might not this believe, without the sensible and true

avouch of mine own eyes.

POLONIUS: Give thine own thoughts no tongue, Horatio. (Polonius turns to Hamlet.) But look to’t I charge you, my Lord.

Come Horatio, let us go together, for this is not our test. (Horatio and Polonius leave together.)

HAMLET: To reject, or not reject, that is the question: whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of

outrageous statistics, or to take arms against a sea of data, and, by opposing, end them. (Hamlet resignedly attends to his

task.)

(Curtain falls)

Short answer

Part a: plants must regulate the opening and closing of stomata.

Part b: water potential, Y, for the efflux H⁺

Part c: water stress and daylight, which have opposing effects on the opening and closing of stomata

Part d: treating rockcress (Arabidopsis) with doses of ABA, ACC, and ABA plus ACC

Step-by-step solution

Given information (Part a)

Organisms, including plants, have evolved chemical signaling pathways to direct physiological responses to environmental changes. Stomata are pores, typically on the underside of leaves that regulate CO₂, O₂, and H₂O exchange between plants and the external environment. This interaction controls photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate. The opening and closing of stomata are controlled by specialized guard cells that surround the stomatal pore. The osmotic state within the guard cells determines their turgor; when the guard cells are flaccid, stomata close. Turgor in the guard cells is regulated by the active transport of several ions, including K+K+ and H+H+, across the plasma membrane.

Given information (Part b)

Several environmental factors can cause stomatal closing: water deficit, darkness, microbes, ozone, and sulfur dioxide and other pollutants. Intracellular carbon dioxide concentration and light can trigger stomata to open. The system is regulated by a phytohormone (plant hormone) called abscisic acid (ABA) and the amino acid precursor of the synthesis of a second phytohormone called ethylene (ACC). The second messengers NO and Ca₂+ in the signal response to changes in the concentrations of these hormones activate transcription factors that affect ion transport across guard cell membranes. High CO₂ levels and light also alter phytohormone concentrations.

Given information (Part c)

Consider a scenario involving environmental factors, such as water stress and daylight, which have opposing effects on the opening and closing of stomata; stomata would be signaled to close under drought conditions and to open during photosynthesis. Pose two scientific questions regarding the response of the system, one involving the phytohormones ABA and ACC, and the second involving the concentration of second messengers.

Given information (Part d)

The data shown below were obtained by treating rockcress (Arabidopsis) with doses of ABA, ACC, and ABA plus ACC. Using the terms and or, describing the expected and unexpected responses of the system just after 10 minutes and around 45 minutes, as displayed by these data. Researchers are investigating the interactions among multiple signaling pathways, a phenomenon referred to as “crosstalk.” The same second messengers, NO and Ca₂+, are used in many different signaling pathways. Construct an explanation by analogy to other phenomena in which combining a small set of events (for example, 0 and 1 in a computer, the musical scale, or the R, G, and B components of color) can lead to a vast assortment of outcomes.