Presentation Type
Poster
Glowing up the Gulf: Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to shed light on marine caves
Abstract
This experiment used samples of prokaryotic cells from the Jewfish Sink located 3km south of Aripeka, Pasco County, Florida. Due to public overuse the sink has transitioned from a freshwater aquifer to an anoxic basin. The purpose for doing this study was to create FISH (Florescence in situ hybridization) probes that recognize the gene APS reductase (apr) among many other genomes. APS reductase is known to catalyze reversibly the reduction of APS to sulfite and AMP. A collection of known APS reductase protein sequences was used to create an alignment and an HMM logo of the catalytic sites as well as a phylogenetic tree. These were used preemptively to target areas for potential molecular probe design. ARB was then used to create probes which were tested using in silico experiments in Sequencher. The probes will then be used to characterize apr among a community of sulfur reducing bacteria inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico.
Categories
Natural Sciences
Research Type
Course Related
Mentor Information
Haydn Rubelman
Glowing up the Gulf: Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to shed light on marine caves
This experiment used samples of prokaryotic cells from the Jewfish Sink located 3km south of Aripeka, Pasco County, Florida. Due to public overuse the sink has transitioned from a freshwater aquifer to an anoxic basin. The purpose for doing this study was to create FISH (Florescence in situ hybridization) probes that recognize the gene APS reductase (apr) among many other genomes. APS reductase is known to catalyze reversibly the reduction of APS to sulfite and AMP. A collection of known APS reductase protein sequences was used to create an alignment and an HMM logo of the catalytic sites as well as a phylogenetic tree. These were used preemptively to target areas for potential molecular probe design. ARB was then used to create probes which were tested using in silico experiments in Sequencher. The probes will then be used to characterize apr among a community of sulfur reducing bacteria inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico.
