All Abstracts

Death feigning or thanatosis is a well-known anti-predator defense seen in the animal kingdom including in the confused flour beetles (Tribolium confusum). We hypothesize that red flour beetles(T. castaneum)like confused flour beetles will feign death in the presence of predators. Adults and larvae ...

Antibiotic resistance has become one of the most concerning threats to mankind. Our nation faces 23,000 deaths annually due to antibiotic resistance. Neisseria gonorrhoea (Ngo), a Gram-negative bacterium that causes gonorrhea, has evolved high levels of resistance to a wide range of antibiotics and ...

  Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a pathogenic sexually-transmitted bacterium, is becoming untreatable due to increased antibiotic resistance. Related commensal (non-pathogenic) Neisseria species are found in the human oral and nasopharynx, but are rarely studied. Here, we seek (1) to characterize the in...

    Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the etiological agent of the STI, gonorrhea. Resistance to ceftriaxone and azithromycin, the currently recommended treatment for gonococcal infections, is increasing world-wide. Strains resistant to ceftriaxone contain a mosaic penA gene that encodes a highly mutated p...

The purpose of this project was to observe the ex ovo early development of chick embryos. Our goals were to be able to routinely maintain normal development up to embryonic day 10, and to be able to analyze the normality of development by using a skeletal staining technique to observe both cartilage...

In order to determine the localization and function of these C. burnetti proteins with the host cell, we constructed fusion proteins of each open reading frame(ORF) with mCherry, GFP, and FLAG peptides and expressed them in either eukaryotic cells or C. burnetti. We found the post infection CBU-1636...

  The soil is an environment inhabited by a large/diverse population of bacteria, many of which can produce antibiotics that can be harmful to plants. Plants have evolved genes that confer antibiotic resistance. In Arabidopsis WBC19 confers resistance to the aminoglycoside kanamycin. We assessed th...

The goal of this research study is to gain an understanding of the mechanism of antibiotic resistance in plants. Previous investigations revealed a link between metal uptake and antibiotic resistance, such as, a decrease in iron uptake in plants exposed to kanamycin. We hypothesize this relationship...

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an obligate human pathogen that causes gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease in humans that is becoming untreatable given high levels of antibiotic resistance expressed by N. gonorrhoeae. N. gonorrhoeae was shown to form biofilms in vivo and in vitro. Biofilms are aggreg...

  Genome sequencing is a technique that identifies the order of nucleotides in a DNA sequence of an organism. This process is the most successful for large animals like humans and plants, however, genome sequencing of microbial eukaryotes is still advancing. Microbial Eukaryotes like Amoeba have ve...

Flagella are ‘whip-like’ extensions of the cell membrane with an inner core of microtubules arranged in a specific 9+2 configuration. Majority of Eukaryotic use flagella for movement. Flagella have several components: radial spokes, transition zone, centriole, membrane, central pair apparatus, i...

Amoebozoa includes unicellular eukaryotic microbes that use pseudopodia to move and to feed. They are diverse, occupying many habitats including freshwater and marine environments as well as parasites affecting humans and other livestock. The biodiversity of Amoebozoa is mostly studied at a molecula...

Salmonella enterica is a Gram-negative, anaerobic pathogen that is one of the most common species of Salmonella found in the United States. Salmonella enterica account for ~99% of Salmonella infections in humans and other mammals. Antibiotic resistance spread can be facilitated by the use of antibio...

In a normal human eye, light coalesces to a central point on the retina, which is responsible for capturing all of the light rays and processing them to be sent to the optic nerve. Infrared light with a wavelength >700 nm is known to cause damage to the retina and the frontal eye, creating a physiol...

  Genomics is the study of the structure, function, evolution, and mapping of genomes. Genomics underwent a major period of transition and progress with the start of the Human Genome Project in 1990. This research spawned several new analysis methods that revolutionized genomics research. This allo...

Preterm infants in the NICU often require supplemental O2 (ie. Hyperoxia) to ensure healthy oxygen intake. One consequence of supplemental O2 therapy can manifest as airway (AW) hyperreactivity, which is an underlying feature of lung disease (ie. bronchopulmonary dysplasia) and various wheezing diso...

    Both male and female red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, have a high mating rate. Male beetles demonstrate clear pre-copulatory mate choice. We hypothesized that male choice is affected by the environment and test if male mate preference varies when the males' environment is changed. In t...

Horizontally transferred genes (HGTs) are a result of transferred genetic material across species and is not a result of direct descent. HGTs are common in prokaryotes but typically rare in multi-cellular eukaryotes. However, rapid accumulation of genomic information has recently identified increase...

  Flagella are projectile organelles that tell us about the organism’s mechanisms for mobility and sensory structures. Flagella are highly conserved structures among eukaryotes and are found in many microorganisms and cells of multicellular organism including ovaries, sperm, and kidney. Flagella ...

    Shiga toxins (STXs) are virulence factors of Escherichia coli and Shigella strains that cause disease in humans. Members of the Shiga toxin family are composed of a pentameric array of glycolipid-binding B-subunits and a single enzymatic A subunit that inhibits ribosomal function. Globotriaosy...

The endosperm and embryo are the results of double fertilization in flowering plants. These structures rely on each other for successful seed development. In the early stages of Arabidopsis seed development, the endosperm grows rapidly while the embryo grows slowly. After endosperm cellularization, ...

In the small flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana, IREG1 (Iron Regulated Transporter 1) is involved in iron transport. This study is focusing on the characterization of IREG1 mutants to ultimately assess how iron transport is affected by citrate and kanamycin. Insertional mutants from the Salk Colle...

Biofilms are aggregates of bacteria that adhere to surfaces and display increased resistance to antibiotics. Two main healthcare concerns are the disinfection of surgical surfaces and equipment and the treatment of infections in humans. Individuals infected with biofilm-forming bacteria present recu...

On nearly every surface and inside almost every organism, there are millions of tiny microbes that are invisible to the naked eye. Some of these microbes, known as symbionts, live in symbiosis or within other organisms. These tiny microbes include bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Honeybees (Apis mellif...

Bacteria that break down red blood cells (hemolysis) are usually pathogenic to humans. Some soil bacteria can display hemolytic activity. In this experiment, we sought to isolate soil bacteria with hemolytic activity and study their impact on yeast growth, as a model for eukaryotic cells. The bacter...

Metastasis is responsible for the majority of breast cancer-related mortality. Through systematic testing of breast cancer cell lines in vivo, we have identified a strong correlation between metastatic potential and genetic dependency on Dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), an inter-mitochondrial g...

Pharmaceutical testing on epigenetic effects are very limited. The routine use of vertebrates as preclinical research models is constrained by their long mating and generational times, leading to very low numbers of progeny to test and assess. In contrast, invertebrates such as insects are ethically...

The purpose of this study is to understand the role of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in eukaryote evolution. HGT is known to be widespread in prokaryotes and allows for the rapid acquisition of phenotypic traits. HGT can explain how genes are independently transferred to multiple unrelated species....

  Plants acquire essential nutrients from the soil through their roots. In the process, they may absorb many antibiotics such as kanamycin that are harmful to plants. Therefore plants such as Arabidopsis have evolved resistance mechanisms that involve the adjustment of metal uptake. We propose a mo...

Urbanization is an increase in the number of people that live in relatively small areas and can cause drastic changes in land use. For example, more cement and concrete may be used to accommodate the growing population of people moving to a city. This research analyzes how urbanization affects bird ...