Week 1

Unfortunately I had to finish 3 final exams this week down at OSU so I was only able to attend the orientation on Monday and a few hours in the office today (Friday).  Today I had the opportunity to meet with my mentor Dr. Mariya Smit and read over a literature review of the research topic we will be dealing with this summer- Using biosensor technologies to monitor and map out microbial communities in the Columbia River plume on a year-to-year and seasonal basis. 

Previously I was not aware of the long term outlook on this project which deals with a few microbial populations including SAR 11 alpha-proteobacteria, Marine Crenarchaeotes, and diatoms in the genus Pseudo- nitzschia.  Pseudo-nitzschia is especially important in that some strains and species produce a harmful neurotoxin called domoic acid which is known to cause amnesic shellfish poisoning in some vertebrates including humans... ouch!  Here at CMOP one of their goals is to eventually map out certain microbial populations including those involved with Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB).  This research will hopefully eventually include data showing where they are active, how abundant they are, how they are affected by various physical and chemical processes, etc. These microbes are being studied via filter samples collected from cruise ships starting in 2007.  Scientists including those from Holly Simon's lab (also my senior scientist) go on a couple of cruises a year- some lasting for more than a few days. The filter samples from 2007 and 2008 were collected on board, brought back to the lab, and stored for further analysis using DNA isolation, PCR amplification, microarray technology, etc.  These processes will be the main constituents of my project this summer.  In May 2009 however, they were able to successfully perform these steps on board including using a new sturdy microarray platform called ElectraSense™.  This system is readily deployable unlike the previously used fluorescent microarray.  

With that I am very excited to get into the lab next week and start performing my part of the project- DNA isolation and PCR amplification of the collected samples to further set us up for microarray analysis later on.