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| Department and/or Lab |
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Biological Sciences/ Bacterial DNA replication Laboratory
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| Thesis Title: |
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Assembly of nucleoprotein complexes at the replication origin of Escherichia coli. |
| Degree Sought: |
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Ph.D., Biological Sciences
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| Research
Advisor: |
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Dr. Julia E. Grimwade |
Research Focus
Understanding the protein complexes that form on DNA to control growth in the bacteria, E. coli
Description of
Research
All cells must copy their DNA completely and accurately before cell division occurs. This is a highly regulated process ensuring that cells copy their genetic information only when ready. E. coli is one of the most studied and well understood bacteria in molecular biology, but exactly how it begins DNA replication is still unknown. An initiator protein, DnaA binds to the DNA at specific sites on the E. coli genome. Depending on the strength of those sites, the DnaA protein will constantly remain bound to the DNA or will bind right before replication begins. The complex that DNA forms with DnaA before replication begins is still unknown. Understanding these components of replication are vital and have remained the main focus of our laboratory.
My projects involve looking at the initiator protein, DnaA, and how the order that it binds to E. coli DNA affects proper formation of the complex that begins DNA replication. Specifically, I will be examining the importance of the higher affinity DNA sites and how they influence DnaA binding to the sites with a lower affinity for the protein. In addition, I am examining the significance of the positions of these binding sites on the DNA and if the positions are required for normal replication to occur. This research is significant because people today are growing increasingly resistant to antibiotics so new drugs will need to be designed. The work in our lab will provide a better understanding of how bacterial cells replicate. Once this process is fully understood then the information can be used to create drugs to stop this replication and treat illnesses that cannot be treated with current antibiotics.
Example of How My
Research is Integrated into My GK-12 Experience
An important part of being a scientist is being able to communicate your interests with people of different educational backgrounds, while still capturing their interest. Being part of InSTEP gives me the opportunity to improve my scientific communication skills and present science topics to a variety of audiences. I hope to use real life examples to demonstrate to students that interesting science is constantly going on around them. I also hope to integrate my research interests with the ocean discovery theme of InSTEP to show students that the sciences are all connected and it is difficult for one aspect of science to exist without the others. The field of molecular biology is vast and can relate to everyone’s lives in some way and I will use my knowledge of the field to get students excited about science in general and show them that science is fun, useful, and important all at the same time.
Profile date:
February 16, 2009
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