Characterization of ABC1K Proteins as an Integral Part of Plant Light-Stress Response

This summer exposed me to tier-one university research and the rigors associated with it. I am grateful for having this wonderful opportunity, making the connections I did, and enjoying 10 weeks of the best science an undergraduate could ask for!

Over my 10 weeks in the VanWijk Laboratory I learned several biochemical assays monitoring plant redox state, protein analysis including western blotting, and the basics of plant biology. I was exposed to a laboratory setting with postdocs and graduate students which is much different than Providence College’s strictly undergraduate laboratories.

Light is the most basic driving force of all life here on earth. As autotrophic organisms, plants have a variety of mechanisms to cope with the amount of light they can absorb at any given time. Light stress can be present in a variety of forms, either in excess or deficiency. Our laboratory is particularly interested in the regulatory mechanisms of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in the presence of elevated light. We seek to target key proteins from the plant plastoglobule (PG) to help understand this particle’s role in stress response. Unpublished data from PG proteomics and metabolite analysis have shown promising targets that may be directly involved in this regulatory process.

My Experience

This summer exposed me to tier-one university research and the rigors associated with it. I am grateful for having this wonderful opportunity, making the connections I did, and enjoying 10 weeks of the best science an undergraduate could ask for!

Over my 10 weeks in the VanWijk Laboratory I learned several biochemical assays monitoring plant redox state, protein analysis including western blotting, and the basics of plant biology. I was exposed to a laboratory setting with postdocs and graduate students which is much different than Providence College’s strictly undergraduate laboratories.