Biochemistry Commons^™

The Role Of Cuticular Hydrocarbons In The Pre-Mating Isolation Of Two Pissodes Species, Stephanie L. Teale

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Pissodes strobi and P. nemorensis are weevils (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) that infest pines (Pinus spp.) and spruces (Picea spp.). Previous studies indicate that they are able to hybridize. In the spring, breeding site specificity maintains reproductive isolation, but in the late summer, both species occupy lateral branches of host trees. Aggregation pheromones for P. nemorensis have been identified but the mechanism for late summer isolation is unknown. Cuticular hydrocarbons have been shown to play a role in the chemical recognition of species, sex, kin, and caste in many groups of insects. The large number of possible compounds and the …

Identifying Proteins That Interact With The Novel Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Proteins Pdr19 And Pdr20 And Bioinformatic Characterization Of Genes Involved In Ttg Cellular Responses, Casey White

Honors Capstone Projects - All

One of the most critical structures in cellular biology is the plasma membrane, due to its ability to respond to environmental stresses. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a model, single-celled eukaryote that has been used to investigate many aspects of cell biology. A recent genetic screen in yeast for plasma membrane homeostatic proteins identified three related proteins of unknown molecular function that participate in these processes. These proteins, termed PDR19, PDR20, and PDR21 for Pleiotropic Drug Resistance, are each approximately one hundred amino acids in size and share a small conserved domain, namely the core sequence KITRYDL. In the case of PDR21 …

Purification Of Proteorhodopsin By Using Citrate And Phosphate To Induce Selective Precipitation, Jonathan Kim

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Abstract not Included

Fatal Flu: History, Science, And Politics Of The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Suzanne Vroman

Honors Capstone Projects - All

In 1918 an influenza pandemic killed over 50 million people world wide including 675,000 in the United States alone. This Capstone Thesis asks the question: what caused the 1918 pandemic to become so fatal? In order to understand how the influenza outbreak of 1918 turned into one of the world’s deadliest pandemics, I took a unique approach to tackling the mystery of the “Spanish Influenza,” by interpreting the high fatality rate from both a social and natural scientific approach. This project is broken into two parts.

The first part of this paper gives a historical analysis of the 1918 …

Enhancing Bacterial Expression Of Mammalian Gprotein Coupled Receptors The Creation Of A Proteorhodopsin‐Bovine Rhodopsin Chimera, Chauncey Brown Jr.

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Bovine (cow) rhodopsin is a 7‐transmembrane (7TM), lightabsorbing protein located in rod cells. It is activated by the photoisomerization of retinal, a Vitamin A derivative. This light‐triggered reaction activates the G‐Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR), resulting in a signaling cascade within the cell. When previously cloned in an E. coli expression vector in the Braiman Lab, bovine rhodopsin expression was not successful, possibly due to E. coli’s lack of recognition of the foreign Nterminus portion of the protein, which may be a prerequisite for proper folding and insertion into the membrane. Our proposed solution is to create a chimera protein, replacing …

Influence Of Carbonate On The Binding Of Carboplatin To Dna, Robert S. Sorokanich

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The reaction of aged carboplatin (reaction of carboplatin in 24 mM NaHCO₃ for 45 h, 37^o C, pH 8.6) with pBR322 DNA for 0 ≤ r ≤ 2.8, where r = [drug]/[DNA-bp], in 24 mM HEPES buffer, pH 7.4, for 24 h followed by agarose gel electrophoresis showed DNA mobility changes consistent with unwinding closed circular DNA. However, identical experiments conducted in a two buffer system, 24mM HEPES plus 24mM carbonate, showed no DNA mobility changes, indicating that carbonate blocks formation of the 1,2-intrastrand crosslink on DNA. Studies with aged carboplatin and with cisplatin carried out with 2.0 …

Expressing A Mammalian Signaling Protein In E. Coli, Soyika A. Richardson

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Much of what is currently known about GPCR structure was based on X-ray crystallographic measurements of rhodopsin. Furthermore, due to its inexpensiveness and the availability of simple methods to purify it in large quantities from cow eyes, bovine rhodopsin has been successfully used in obtaining diffraction-quality three-dimensional crystals. In our experiment, the bovine rhodopsin protein was cloned into the commercially available E. coli expression plasmid, pBAD TOPO^®, using forward and reverse PCR primers designed in our lab. Plasmid DNA from these cells was purified in order to analyze the direction of the inserted gene. The purified plasmid DNA …

Compensation Mechanisms For Altered Membrane Sterol Compositions In The Yeast: Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, David M. Dewolfe

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Cell Membranes are composed of several different lipid and sterol products. Among these are, chiefly, phospholipids, glycolipids, sphingolipids, various proteins and sterols. The sterol that is prevalent in fungi, including yeast, is ergosterol. It plays the same physiological role as cholesterol in mammalian cells. That is, mainly, to control membrane fluidity. Membranes in general are extremely important to the normal functioning of any cell and its sub-cellular compartments. The primary factor in the normal functioning of a membrane is the relative composition of the previously mentioned components. Even though there is a high amount of traffic between different membranes within …

Characterizing Ntrc-Like Activators Affecting Myxococcus Xanthus Development, Jessica Eisenstatt

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Myxococcus xanthus is a soil bacterium that is a member of a group of organisms known as the myxobacteria. M. xanthus cells live in biofilms and feed on other bacteria to obtain nutrients. During times of inadequate nourishment, M. xanthus cells aggregate, build fruiting bodies, and fruiting body cells differentiate into spores that are highly resistant. In order to form the fruiting bodies, M. xanthus cells must be able to move across solid surfaces. There are two motility systems, the adventurous system (A-motility) and the social system (S-motility), used by M. xanthus cells to navigate across surfaces. The adventurous system …

Characterization Of Type Ii Secretion Mutants Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sijung Suh

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutants PA0686, PA3102, PA3103, and PA5210 carry transposon insertions in uncharacterized genes in the PA01 background. The biofilms formed by these mutants show different phenotypes than PA01, their wild-type counterpart. BLAST searches and phylogenomic mapping tools indicate that protein products of the mutated genes are involved in P. aeruginosa type-II secretion, which is linked to twitching motility. In this study, 96-well microtitre plate biofilm assays, UV/visible spectrophotometer analysis, and motility assays were used to demonstrate a link between type-II secretion, twitching motility and biofilm formation. The results show that the PA5210 mutant forms a biofilm that is less …

Characterization Of Hypersensitive Response Related Genes Of Arabidopsis Thaliana, Keluo Yao

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Like most complex living organisms, plants have many mechanisms to prevent disease by microbial pathogens. One of the most important and well developed defense systems that involve recognition, identification and systematic response is the hypersensitive response.

The hypersensitive response is a complex, early defense response against pathogens that causes necrosis and cell death at the site of infection to restrict the spread of pathogen. Hypersensitive response is a type of programmed cell death, and its activation usually happens when the plant recognizes a pathogen through an elicitor. This recognition triggers a series of signal transductions events which end in the …

The Role Of Trailerhitch In Mouse Germ Cell Development, Ashley L. O'Hara

Honors Capstone Projects - All

During oogenesis in the Drosophila ovary, a 16-cell cyst develops in which one cell grows to become the oocyte. The surrounding nurse cells transport mRNAs, proteins, and organelles to the oocyte during development and must be localized properly within the oocyte. A complex of proteins is responsible for mRNA localization, including the recently discovered protein Trailerhitch. Homologs of Trailerhitch exist in other species including C. elegans, yeast, mice, and humans, but the function is unknown. We are interested in studying the function of Trailerhitch in mouse germ cell development. Mice with a nonfunctional Trailerhitch gene were synthesized using a gene …

The Response Of A Biocompatible Liquid Crystal To Ions And Chemistry On Nanostructured Surfaces, Anny Huang

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Traditional lyotropic liquid crystals are composed of amphiphilic molecules forming assemblies in water. Disodium cromoglycate (cromolyn or DSCG) – an antiasthmatic drug – is a novel and unusual lyotropic liquid crystal because it is not amphiphilic, and yet, it exhibits large birefringence (shininess) when dissolved in water forming lyotropic liquid crystal. In the work, DSCG liquid crystal is doped with different types of salt such as sodium chloride and sodium perchlorate, and the response in the changes of birefringence and liquid crystal transition temperature is studied. We find that addition of certain type of salts enhance the propensity of formation …

A Sensitive Subject: Haploinsufficiency Of The Yeast Vma13 Gene In Simple And Compound Heterozygotes, Jason Michael Rizzo

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Vacuolar-proton translocating-ATPases (V-ATPases) are the membranebound transporters responsible for controlling pH levels in intracellular compartments. The V-ATPase enzyme is a multi-subunit complex consisting of two distinct domains, a cytosolic V1 region and a membrane-bound Vo domain. While the interface between V1 and Vo is not as well understood, studies suggest the possibility of multiple peripheral stalks tethering the complex. In response to glucose deprivation, the V1 and Vo sectors of the enzyme are capable of dissociating into separate, and inactive, domains as a means of regulation. At least 4 V1 subunits (C, H, E, and G) are believed to form …

Total Synthesis Of Pumiliotoxin 341a, Lydia Choi

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Pumiliotoxin 341 A differs from all other pumiliotoxins in that its alkylidene side chain has been cyclized to form a pyranose ring, providing another quaternary center in its indolizidine ring. Although the gross structure of this natural product has been determined, the absolute and relative stereochemistry of the tertiary alcohol on C14 is still unknown. As a result, we want to synthesize this alkaloid to prove its stereochemistry and to prepare material for further biological analysis. A rhodium-catalyzed alkyne addition reaction currently being developed in our group is employed as the key reaction in our synthesis of the indolizidine core. …