You are here

Home » Blogs

Sheedra Futrell's blog

Incubation Aug 2-Aug 6

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on August 9, 2010 - 11:15am

This week I continued to settle samples and count M. rubra under a microscope. We also went back to Astoria again, however, we stayed over night in order to sample a full tidal cycle and also set up incubations of water samples for 24 hours so that we could test different conditions.
I am also writing my paper and preparing slides for the presentation.

Another Week

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on August 2, 2010 - 1:28pm

This week I mostly counted M. rubra from lugol samples. I tried doing a pcr once or twice but it failed to work. My two samples that were sent for sequencing turned out to be nothing. I went sampling thursday again and collected samples. This time, we tried more efficient approaches to using the mesh, but it still took us a long time to filter the water through the mesh. I tried to retape my sampler because the red markings are fading more and more everytime I use it. So, I tried to remark the depths with bright tape, but that was a failure.

July 19-July 23

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on July 26, 2010 - 11:22am
Last week I had been working getting these two particular samples sent for sequencing to find out if they are in fact cryptophytes. The results came back and I found out that they were not cryptophytes. Using BLAST, I found out that they were diatoms, specifically Skeletonema. We were not pleased and decided to do more PCR on those same samples using two different cryptophyte specific primers for PCR which were actually not very specific. We cloned them and are going to send them off for sequencing today.

July 12-16

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on July 19, 2010 - 9:42am
This week my mentor and I focused on getting some of our samples sent for sequencing and working out some of the rough patches that we are experiencing using the different PCRs. I found one M. rubra this week during my cell counting. I also extracted 8 samples. I think all 2 of my samples that I have cloned have been sent for sequencing and should be back next week.

Friday, we went on a tour of the OHSU School of Medicine and I was able to meet people from the school and talk about their experience.

July 5-July 9

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on July 12, 2010 - 8:38am
This week I have been working on creating triplicates of some of my samples using different types of PCR, but I have only been successful in two out of my growing number of samples. I was only successful in cloning one of my two samples, and I might be able to get it sequenced soon. Unfortunately, when I checked for inserts, my fragments proved that the cloning was successful, but they were not cut at the right lengths so the cloning may have been unsuccessful also.

June 28- July 2

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on July 2, 2010 - 6:50pm

This week I tried cloning from purified samples to search for cryptophytes. I am still currently learning the porcess and hoping to obtain results next from my plated samples by growing them in broth in order to later sequence them. I also did more extractions looked at more microscope slides of settled water samples of which no M. rubra was found. Friday we took a trip to the hatchery and saw big Sturgeon, and I attempted to hike a mile up mountain to see the waterfall. I am tired.

June 21-25

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on June 25, 2010 - 1:11pm

This week I learned how to settle Lugol water samples on a microscope slide and count M. rubra. There was none found, however, the bloom has not started yet. I was also able to see crytophytes and M. rubra under the microscope so that  I can locate them in the samples that I will settle later. I also did more extractions this week. I was able to obtain positive results on my 16S and Rbc PCRs, which means that my project is going along well, after some trial and error PCRs.  

June 14-18

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on June 18, 2010 - 1:58pm

These week I learned how to do
16S and 18S PCR, as well as other kinds of PCR. I have done alot of Total Extractions and I am learning how to balance my time so that I can do the PCR, extracts and look at my water samples, which are preserved in Lugol, under a microscope within the same day.

First Week Ever

Submitted by Sheedra Futrell on June 11, 2010 - 5:46pm

This was my first week in Oregon. This week, I have been working on doing DNA extraction on pratice samples, as well as collecting samples from places as far away as the state of Washington. I had a crash course in learning some things about Oregon and in the lab. I have to say that I find the experience very interesting and I am glad to be working among such skilled people that work within my lab.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Sheedra Futrell's blog

Follow Us

Flckr Blog

Map

Visitors to our website leave a dot on the map. Click on the map for larger view.

Member Login

Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CMOP or OHSU. All content posted here must be consistent with OHSU's Acceptable Use of Computing and Telecommunications Resources policy.