Cloning, Expression and Application of a Thermophilic Cellulase — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Cloning, Expression and Application of a Thermophilic Cellulase

Name: Suresh Graf
Major: Biology
Hometown: Shakopee, MN
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Rachel Murray
Major: Biology
Hometown: Elgin, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to further the understanding of the CelA cellulase enzyme by measuring enzyme activity using a 3,5-dinitro salicylic acid colorimetric assay. The specific aim of this research is to optimize the enzyme production, extraction and performance through a series of assays in which single variable changes are made. These variables include factors such as temperature, pH, buffer salt, incubation time, incubation temperature, heat shock extraction, and extraction by sonication. All of the manipulations performed are to create a standard method of extraction for this specific cellulase enzyme, which can be used for subsequent processing of cellulosic biomass into smaller and more readily useable simple sugars to be used in fermentation. Previous results show that CelA demonstrates activity that is significantly higher than other cellulase enzymes, this research has reinforced those findings and has been focused on optimizing the activity of the enzyme by conditional modification.

Poster file