Investigation of Genetic Variation in Omission of Second Division Gene in Glycine This summer I investigated a gene that plays a role in Meiosis II. My goal was to find it in soybean, so that synthetic polyploids could eventually be made. I learned a lot of new...
Transcriptome analysis of resistance genes in the genus Glycine The genus Glycine contains two subgenera. The subgenus Soja includes the major crop species Glycine max or soybean. The other subgenus, Glycine, includes wild diploid and tetraploid perennial species....
Sarah is a student at local Ithaca High School. In the Jander lab, Sarah worked on a project investigating the role of glucosinolates on plant defense. She used mutants lacking the defense responses and performed feeding experiments with cabbage loopers. For this...
Sarah is senior at the University of California-Davis. During her internship, Sarah worked with her mentor, post-doctoral associatat Sara Zimmer on cpPAP: A Candidate Gene for Chloroplast RNA Poly(A) Polymerase in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Sarah learned techniques...
Identifying salicylic acid-binding proteins involved in plant disease resistance Salicylic acid (SA) is a phenolic plant hormone found in a wide range of species and involved in a variety of plant processes, including plant resistance against pathogen attack. Because...
Investigating the molecular basis of AvrPto C-terminal domain (CTD) activity within members of theSolanaceae family Pseudomonas syringae is a y-proteobacterium that causes disease in over 50 plant species including economically important species such as tomato,...
Originally from Moodus, CT, Scott is currently a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology. This summer, Scott worked in the Brutnell lab under the guidance of post-doc Judy Kolkman. Scott’s project involved characterizing the phototropic variability in maize....
The Role of Poly(A) Polymerases Within the Mitochondrion of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii RNA stability is one major mechanism by which all organisms regulate gene expression. The deterioration of mRNA generally has a significant dependence upon the presence of poly(A)...
Scott was a student at Newark Valley High School and has just started college at SUNY Binghamton. During his summer in the Martin lab, Scott was mentored by post-doc Jeff Anderson. They worked on mutagenizing a bacterial protein associated with bacterial speck disease...
Knocking Out O-methyltransferase Targets on Chromosome 9 By researching maize, scientists have been able to manipulate plant genes to fight diseases and repel insects. In order to discover more about the corn leaf aphid resistance pathway involving benzoxazinoid...
Stephanie is currently a student at Ithaca High School. This summer, Stephanie worked with graduate student Elizabeth Fox analyzing the genetic differences between a wild type tomato plant and certain mutants. A better understanding of the genetic make-ups of the...
Carotenoids profiling and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) detection in a S. lycopersicum × S. galapagense recombinant inbred lines populations Project Summary Many people suffer from malnutrition due to lack of access to quality food, especially in developing...
Mapping and Characterization of nei mutant in Solanum lycopersicum The tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, is one of the United States largest economic vegetable crops and is currently the most commonly used plant model system for studying the process of fruit ripening. One...
Characterization of CRT1-Interacting Protein 10, a bZIP transcription activator potentially involved in plant immunity Plant defense mechanisms have evolved to include complex pathways, making plant disease and plague the general exception. This summer, I was...
Stephen is currently a student at the SUNY Binghamton. During this past summer in the Harrison lab, Stephen worked with mentor Quan Zhang. Stephen’s project consisted of fine mapping of a mycorrhizal mutant in Medicago trunculata. To do this, Stephen learned several...
Defense against Herbivores: The role of Glucosinolates in Arabidopsis My project investigates the effects on glucosinolates on caterpillars. I used tu Arabidopsis mutants impaired in glucosinolate production.
Tatiana is a student at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez campus. She worked in the Jander lab under the guidance of post-doc Minsang Lee looking for an SMM molecule that could transport between leaves and seeds. For this project, Tatiana learned HPLC, PCR, and...
Tatum is a currently a senior at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas. In the Jander lab, Tatum project was researching the Myzus persicae (Green peach aphid) adaptation to tobacco defenses. During the summer Tatum worked under the supervision of graduate...
Factors that affect Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Solanum prinophyllum Project Summary The human population is predicted to reach 9.6 billion and the food demand is predicted to increase 70 to 100 percent by 2050. Arable land is being lost to...
The investigation of genetic variation in candidate genes from the lignin biosynthesis pathway. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a commonly used forage crop. M. truncatula provides genomic sequence data to design primers that can be used in M. sativa to amplify its genes...
Development of reporter genes for monitoring effector-triggered immunity in tomato Plants rely on two innate immune systems to combat pathogens: pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)...
Teresa is from Dryden, NY and currently attends Ithaca High School. This summer, Theresa is working with Dr. Georg Jander at Boyce Thompson Institute. Her project studies two aspects of aphid biology. First, she is working toward identifying chemicals that plants,...
Thihan is currently a student at California State University at Fresno. While in the Klessig lab, Thihan worked primarily with post-doc Corina Vlot. The lab is focused on plant-pathogen interactions and Thihan’s project investigated two different potential pathogen...
A suppressor screen of Medicago truncatula mtpt4-1 for gene mutations in the regulation of arbuscule degradation We are screening mutagenized Medicago truncatula mtpt4-1 mutants for suppressors of the mtpt4-1 phenotype. The pt4-1 mutant varies from the wild type in...
After spending the spring semester in the Harrison lab part-time through a research-based class at Lansing, Tom returned full-time to continue his project for the summer. Tom worked directly with Maria Harrison to study Medicago truncatula mutants in order to gain...
Maize Plant-Insect Interactions Meiotic recombination is the basis of evolutionary change over time. While recombination has been extensively studied, still little is known of the mechanisms behind this process. Many studies have suggested that recombination is in...
Viktor worked on developing a pipeline on identification of SNPs from cDNA sequences generated by 454-sequencing technology and creating an EST unigene build.
Viviana is currently at the University of Florida. For the duration of her internship, Viviana worked under the supervision of Dr. Jian Hua to study repression of the defense and cell death by the BON family likely involves multiple R genes in Arabidopsis>. While...
Identifying a possible compensatory mutation in an engineered cucumber mosaic virus isolate Cucumber mosaic virus has probably one of the largest host ranges of any known plant virus, affecting many agriculturally important crops. It can be transmitted by more than 50...
Investigating the role of salicylic acid-binding proteins in photo-oxidative stress Project Summary Salicylic acid (SA) is a small, plant-derived phenolic molecule that is an essential regulator of plant defense-related signal transduction against pathogens and...
Winnie is currently a junior at Cornell university. During the summer, Winnie worked under her mentor, post-doctoral associate, Martin DeVos on effect of (E)-beta farnesene, a chemical found in aphids’ alarm pheromone, on green peach aphids’ behavior. While in the...
Identification and characterization of cardiac glycoside-related genes in milkweed Project Summary Cardiac glycosides have been used for human medicinal purposes, historically combatting against many cardiac illnesses. However, if one overdoses on cardiac glycoside,...
Yi-Ran is currently a senior at Ithaca High School. She worked in the Jander lab with graduate student John Ramsey on a project studying the behavior of aphids on tobacco plants. More specifically the aphide response to the release of nictotine by the plant. During...
Zach is currently a senior attending SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. As an intern, Zach worked under the supervision of his mentor, post-doc Julian Levy on the role of Gibberellic Acid related genes of Medicago truncatula and their Involvement in...
Zachary is currently a senior at student Trumansburg High School in NY. During this past summer in the Harrison lab, Zachary worked with mentor Karen Gomez. Zachary’s project consisted of studying the short-term effects of phosphate on Medicago truncatula wild-type,...
How does overproduction of antisense RNA in the chloroplast impact the growth and development of tobacco plants? Two different antisense RNAs have been shown to have regulatory functions in cyanobacteria, suggesting that asRNA also may have served regulatory purposes...
Michael is from right here in Ithaca, NY and attends nearby Lansing High School. In the Brutnell lab, Michael is mentored by Rhiannon Bussey, an undergraduate in the lab. His project deals with characterizing a mutant of the magnesium chelatase I-subunit, part of an...
Investigation into Root Colonization of Wild Rice and Brachypodium distachyon by Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Project Summary With an increasingly desperate demand for food and renewable energy, researchers are interested in producing higher yields in agronomic and...
New Visions student, TST-BOCES, September 2014-August 2015 Ithaca High School senior Raphael contributed to a project studying arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in Medicago truncatula. http://www.tstcareertech.org/website/newvisions_life.html
Identification of protein interactors in Medicago truncatula exocyst complex Project Summary Most vascular land plants participate in a beneficial relationship with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi; in which the plants provide carbon to the fungi in exchange for...
Identifying AM symbiosis genes in Medicago truncatula through reverse genetics Project Summary Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) is an endosymbiotic association between biotrophic fungi and vascular plants in which the fungus supplies water, phosphorus, and other nutrients...
Functional characterization of the tomato sugar transporter SWEET10 Project Summary Tomatoes are one of the most important fleshy fruit crops of modern agriculture. The sugary globe’s versatile nature has led it to become a staple in the dishes of countless cultures...
Identifying dynamically expressed genes during sweetpotato root development Project Summary The sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) is the seventh most important crop in the world. With its high nutritional quality and relatively low labor cost, it serves as a major food...
Solanaceae Gene Family Analysis Project Summary This project consisted of analyzing the newly sequenced Iochroma cyaneum genome and comparing it to Solanum lycopersicum (tomato), Solanum tuberosum (potato) and Arabidopsis thaliana. The purpose of the project...
Elucidating genetic variation in ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ transmission between Asian citrus psyllid isofemale lines Project Summary Citrus greening disease or Huanglongbing (HLB) is the most devastating citrus disease worldwide. HLB causes citrus to be...
Extending CRISPR design software features for tomato protein kinase silencing Project Summary The discovery of the CRISPR/Cas9 method in 2012 represents a revolutionary advance in genome editing. The system relies on two main functional groups: A Cas9 protein...
Comparing Database Management Systems in Order to Store Cassava Genetic Data Project Summary As faster and cheaper DNA-sequencing technologies develop, so do the challenges of handling the immense amount of genetic data produced. The challenges for database systems...
Building a genomic resource for a major African staple crop: the Cassava Expression Atlas Project Summary Cassava is a key staple crop for more than 500 million people across Africa, Asia and South America. Its ability to grow in poor and dry environmental conditions,...
