Finding New Regulators and Genetic Analysis of Rubisco Biogenesis Introduction

The real world application of my project at BTI was to understand more about the world’s most abundant enzyme, Rubisco. Identifying how Rubisco is regulated could lead to possibilities in enhancing Rubisco’s inefficiency thereby allowing plants to sequester more carbon, which would have various positive implications for the environment and crop yield. My project focused on finding specific Rubisco deficient mutations of Zea mays (corn) in a mutant population by phenotyping and Western blot analysis. Once the desired mutation was obtained, we analyzed the tissue to see if the mutation was a known Rubisco regulator. The BTI internship gave me the opportunity to learn valuable lessons both in and out of the laboratory. I was immersed in the scientific process, and I now have a much better understanding of the skills needed to excel in research. In addition, I had an amazing time in Ithaca and made awesome friends.

My Experience

The real world application of my project at BTI was to understand more about the world’s most abundant enzyme, Rubisco. Identifying how Rubisco is regulated could lead to possibilities in enhancing Rubisco’s inefficiency thereby allowing plants to sequester more carbon, which would have various positive implications for the environment and crop yield. My project focused on finding specific Rubisco deficient mutations of Zea mays (corn) in a mutant population by phenotyping and Western blot analysis. Once the desired mutation was obtained, we analyzed the tissue to see if the mutation was a known Rubisco regulator. The BTI internship gave me the opportunity to learn valuable lessons both in and out of the laboratory. I was immersed in the scientific process, and I now have a much better understanding of the skills needed to excel in research. In addition, I had an amazing time in Ithaca and made awesome friends.