Elucidating the Role of the sRNA C.0293 in the Bacterial Stress Respons — 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

Elucidating the Role of the sRNA C.0293 in the Bacterial Stress Respons

Name: Robert Miner
Major: Biology
Hometown: Highland, CA
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Janice Pellino
Department: Natural Science
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Morgan Popek
Major: Biology
Hometown: Joliet, Il
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Arjun Sehgal
Major: Chemistry
Hometown: Cedar Grove, WI
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) have been extensively studied since their discovery in 2000. Rather than code for protein, these RNA molecules have critical roles in gene regulation. While initial studies focused on eukaryotes (like humans), the function of these sRNA in bacteria has become a recent focus of study. One sRNA found in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and the closely related Salmonella typhimurium, C.0293, is only expressed when cells are grown on minimal media, yet its specific cellular function is unknown. In vivo homologous recombination was used to delete the C.0293 gene from one strain of E.coli. By comparing this deletion strain to the normal (wild type) bacteria, we can gain insight into C.0293's function. Our studies show that C.0293 is required for growth on minimal media. We also compared the growth under varying salt concentrations. We observed that the deletion strain's growth was significantly hampered by salt compared to the normal cells. Taken together, these data suggest that C.0293 plays an important role in the bacterial stress response. Future studies will compare growth under other stress conditions, such as high temperature and the presence of heavy metals. These studies will hopefully elucidate the specific cellular role of C.0293, potentially leading to the development of better and more directed therapeutics.