Symposium


			Department of Biology Nicola Harrison-Lowe Professor Marianne Laporte, Sponsor Elucidation of Stress Induced Autophagy in Arabidopsis thaliana Autophagy is a cellular process, which enables a plant to survive in nutrient poor environmental conditions through the breakdown of intercellular constituents. I am developing a nitrogen deficient cell liquid culture system in order to determine the environmental conditions that will trigger an autophagic response. This system will allow for the identification of a molecular marker for autophagy using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. Jessica Hornbeck and Cathryn Fields Professor Ulrich Reinhardt, Sponsor Measuring Earstone Dimension to Determine Metabolic Rate Differences in Normal and Transgenic Coho Salmon A strain of coho salmon has been genetically engineered to yield enhanced growth performance. We hypothesize that these transgenic salmon have intrinsically higher standard metabolic rates. Through DNA extraction and PCR reactions, juvenile coho salmon were divided into normal and transgenic groups. We determined the salmon's earstone size as an indirect measure of metabolic rate. The results will be used to determine if transgenic coho salmon can be used in aquaculture. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. Jennifer Muniz Professor Marianne Laporte, Sponsor Detecting the Expression of an NADP+-Malic Enzyme in Arabidopsis Guard Cells A search of the Arabidopsis genome revealed the presence of six NADP+-malic enzyme genes. In this study leaf tissue and isolated guard cells were analyzed using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in order to identify which of these genes is expressed in the plant guard cells. Results indicate the existence of a guard-cell specific NADP+-malic enzyme gene, which may play a role in regulation of plant water loss. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. Christopher Perria Professor Daniel Clemans, Sponsor Induction of Interleukin (IL)-8 from Human Tracheal Epithelial Cells after Stimulation by Secreted Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Proteins Nontypeable H. influenzae (NTHi) causes repeated respiratory infections in patients with chronic lung diseases. We hypothesize that secreted, non-lipooligosaccharide (LOS) NTHi molecules mediate cellular interactions with respiratory epithelial cells, leading to the production of proinflammatory cytokines. To address this hypothesis, we exposed human tracheal epithelial cells to NTHi cells and subcellular fractions and compared the resulting profiles of IL-8 secretion using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The results of our studies suggest that secreted factors other than LOS contribute to the NTHi stimulation of respiratory epithelial cell IL-8 secretion. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. Cristina Varzoaba, Crescentia Innocent and Tyron Foston Professor Henry G. Zot, Sponsor Do the Plekstrin Homology Domains of AFAP-110 bind Phospholipids? AFAP-110 is a muscle protein that is found at the Z-line. AFAP-110 has two homology domains (PH1 and PH2). Because AFAP-110 associates with the plasma membrane, where phospholipids are found, we were interested in the interaction the protein makes with phospholipids. Previous studies suggested that the PH2 domain activates AFAP-110 and the PH1 domain binds phospholipids. In this experiment we tested the domains individually for an interaction with phospholipids. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m.