Past CUREs

Pigmented microbes are all around us! They produce different pigments to help protect themselves against environmental stressors such as UV rays and competition with other microbes. Bacterial pigments can also have many utilities in our world. Some pigments can kill other microbes, so they have potential as novel antimicrobial agents. Other potential uses include sunscreen, antioxidant, and even in the textile industry as a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to dye clothes. This CURE will engage students in hypothesis-driven research to investigate how pigmented bacteria and their pigments can help create a better world.

Skills gained: Culturing using selective media, DNA extraction, PCR, BLAST analysis for specie ID, Interpretation of MALDI-ToF results for specie ID, extraction and characterization of pigments, thin-layer chromatography, antibacterial screening, and bioassays. The lab will conclude with a textile dyeing experiment using live bacteria!

Instructors: Traci Kinkel

[Description about the course]

Come explore how the structure of a protein relates to its function!

In this research lab, you will:

explore protein modeling and create a your own protein mutants

Practice PCR, cloning, and protein expression.

Determine the enzymatic activity of your mutant

contribute to a national database of protein structure and function

in collaboration with the D2D network: https://d2d.ucdavis.edu/

Instructors: Grace Borlee & Bettina Broeckling

[Description about the course]

Instructor: Traci Kinkel

[Description about the course]

Instructor: Traci Kinkel

[Description about the course]

Instructors: Grace Borlee & Christie Mayo

[Description about the course]

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are opportunistic pathogens that are ubiquitous in the environment. They can be isolated from soil and water and also known to form biofilms in shower heads and household faucets. In the last decade, we have seen an increase in NTM pulmonary infections and some authors have hypothesized these may be due to an increase in NTMs in the environment due to climate change. This CURE engages student in hypothesis-driven research to investigate how seasonal climate affects microbial diversity, particularly NTM communities found in environmental samples such as soil and water.

Skills gained: Culturing using selective media, DNA extraction, PCR, BLAST analysis for specie ID, Interpretation of MALDI-ToF results for specie ID, extraction of environmental DNA, library preparation for Next Generation Sequencing, 16S Metagenomics and bioinformatic analysis of soil and water microbiomes.

More information about this NTM CURE project can be found in the CUREnet database.