Week 1 (2009)

I am happy to say I am back for a second summer internship at CMOP! I am working in the same lab, Dr. Haygood's, and with the same mentor, Andrew Han. Although I am working with the same people and in the same environment, I have an entirely new and unique project to tackle!

At the beginning of this week, Dr. Haygood and Andrew outlined a few project ideas with me before finally deciding upon one: I will be localizing E.sertula, a type of gamma proteobacteria, within B.neritina ovicells. Before explaining the significance of the project, I will outline some background information on B.neritina: it is a bryozoan, a sessile marine invertebrate that dwells on piers, docks, etc. Many bryozoans are found off the coast of Oregon and California. The bryozoan samples I will be working with contain ovicells, which as small sacs (about 100 micrometers wide) where embryos develop into larvae. After reaching maturity, the larvae exit the ovicell and are released into the water, where they swim for 2 to 12 hours before settling and beginning to develop into an adult.

B.neritina has been the focus of many of Dr. Haygood's studies because of its relationship with E.sertula, especially during the larval stages. This gamma proteobacterium is thought to produce bryostatin, a secondary metabolite that deters predators and thus protects the larvae during the dangerous swimming phase (during this point in time, the larvae lacks a hard shell or other forms of physical defense against predators). Yet, most interestingly, bryostatin can help humans: it has been found to work as an anti-cancer and anti-Alzheimer's agent by modulating Protein Kinase (PKC). It is currently in Phase II and III of clinical trials against many different types of tumors. Due to its great potential in treating cancer, bryostatin is a very exciting secondary metabolite to research!

Unfortunately, E.sertula is very difficult to cultivate, thus no one has obtained copious amounts of bryostatin to work with. At this point, it's important to continue learning about the relationship between B.neritina and E.sertula. The more their relationship is understood, the closer we get to solving problems related to E.sertula cultivation.

This week, Andrew taught me how to do flourescent in situ hybridization (FISH) on several samples. This technique allows us to visualize bacteria using one of Dr. Haygood's laser scanning microscopes. I will be spending a bulk of my time on this microscope and utilizing FISH, so I spent the majority of the week familiarizing myself with both!

I am so excited to be working with B.neritina this summer! I will post more details on the project as they emerge...

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
- Familiarize myself with B.neritina ovicells
- Continue to do literature searches on the subject
- Perform FISH on B.neritina ovicells
- Visualize results on the laser scanning microscope