Student Scholars & Faculty Mentors
Projects funded by our internal grants program. Search the table to find students or faculty mentors that share in your interests, and could help you achieve your goals in research, creative activity, or service.
Piloting Instrinsic Fluorescence Studies of IcIR-Effector Interations
Name: Hoefner,
Advisor: Melissa Mullen Davis
Department: CHEM
Award: Student Research Grant
Abstract: Antibiotic resistant-bacteria and fungi are a growing concern for public health worldwide. Bacterial infections such as tuberculosis, cholera, and whopping cough take tens of thousands of lives every year in the United States alone. Bacteria and fungi have survival mechanisms such as the glyoxylate bypass operon (aceBAK), a bypass to the citric acid cycle allowing them to survive low glucose conditions. Many factors regulate this pathway, including the Isocitrate lyase regulator (IclR). This protein binds with DNA and small molecules, glyoxylate and pyruvate. The small molecules behave as antagonistic effectors, turning the gene regulating the bypass on and off depending on glucose levels. We will use fluorometric methods to study the binding sites using Escherichia coli as a model. This information will contribute to our understanding of how to combat pathogenic bacteria.