Summer Undergraduate Research Experience

(SURE)

Opportunities

Summer 2008 Internship Opportunities

Internship with Dr. Pierluigi “Enrico” Bonello, Columbus

E-mail: bonello.2@osu.edu

Website: http://plantpath.osu.edu/faculty/bonello.php 

Dr. Bonello's laboratory is specialized in the study of the physiological, chemical, and molecular determinants of tree resistance to fungal pathogens and insects and how the whole tree mediates interactions between these pests.  Both native and exotic, invasive pests are at the center of these studies.  The ultimate goal is to make important tree species more sustainable.  One position is available to work on some aspects of these tripartite interactions. Opportunities exist to work in the laboratory and learn modern techniques applied to the chemical and molecular analysis of woody plant tissues.

Internship with Dr. John Finer, Wooster

E-mail: finer.1@osu.edu

Website: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/plantranslab/default.htm

Research efforts in the Finer Laboratory have focused on genetic transformation and transgene expression in crop plants. Although the main emphasis in the laboratory is currently on production and evaluation of transgenic soybean, we have additional experience with wheat, maize, sunflower, tomato, bentgrass, cotton, white pine, Chinese yam, Christmas cactus and Ohio buckeye. We were the first university laboratory to report consistent recovery of transgenic plants of cotton, soybean and corn. Embryogenic tissues are used for both basic studies on plant growth and development and as targets for transformation. In the area of transgene expression, we are very involved in automated image capture and analysis for promoter evaluation using GFP. Images, collected over time, are both quantitatively analyzed for GFP expression and used to generate time-lapse animations of tissue growth and gene expression. The animations reveal unique features of the subject materials, that are clearly not visible from single time point image collections. A SURE student in the Finer Laboratory would assist graduate students and post-docs as well as be assigned a project to evaluate GFP expression in transgenic soybean material.

Internship with Dr. Erich Grotewold, Columbus

E-mail: grotewold.1@osu.edu

Website: http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/osu_pcmb/faculty_sites/Erich/index.html

One of the interests in the Grotewold lab is to investigate the architecture of plant regulatory networks, combining experimental and computational tools, using Arabidopsis and several grasses (maize, rice, sugarcane and sorghum) as model systems.  Several projects in this area are available for interested students, involving the generation and analysis of Arabidopsis transgenic plants to identify the target genes for a select group of transcription factors, the characterization of antibodies for specific transcription factors, and finally the identification of direct targets utilizing chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) techniques.

Internship with Dr. Patrice Hamel, Columbus

E-mail: hamel.16@osu.edu

Website: http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/osu_pcmb/people_faculty_hamelPatrice.php

Two summer internship positions are available at the Ohio State University-Department of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology, Columbus. One project will focus on the use of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to dissect the assembly of complex I in the mitochondria. The goals are 1) introduce human-disease associated mutations in the mitochondrial genes encoding complex I subunits by biolistic transformation of the mitochondrial genome  and 2) isolate nuclear mutant deficient in the assembly of complex I by insertional mutagenesis of the nucleus.The second project will make use of yeast as a model system to understand the function of a class of proteins (called coiled-coil proteins) for which some members control some unknown aspect of mitochondrial function. Mutations in these proteins will be engineered by molecular genetic in yeast and analyzed for their impact on the mitochondrial function. Functional homologs of these proteins in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana will be discovered by functional complementation of the yeast mutant using a cDNA library. This project is in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr Iris Meier (http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/osu_pcmb/people_faculty_meierIris.php) and will be supervised by the PI. Interns will be exposed to basic molecular biology techniques (e.g. PCR, DNA extraction) and molecular genetic technology (e.g. mitochondrial and nuclear transformation). For more details interested candidates are encouraged to check the laboratory website listed above.

Internship with Dr. Rebecca Lamb, Columbus

E-mail: lamb.129@osu.edu

Website: http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/osu_pcmb/people_faculty_lambRebecca.php

The Lamb laboratory uses the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana to study the regulation of transcription during development. Specifically, we study DNA-binding transcription factors, working to identify both genes directly regulated by such proteins, as well as isolating the transcriptional complexes they work in. Two aspects of development are concentrated on: formation of trichomes and flower formation. For more information please visit our website (listed above).

Internship with Dr. David Mackey, Columbus

E-mail: mackey.86@osu.edu

Website: http://hcs.osu.edu/people/faculty/

Summer internships in molecular plant pathology research are available at the Columbus campus of the Ohio State University. The research will employ molecular and genetic approaches to characterize virulence effectors from the bacterial plant pathogen domonas syringae. The intern will work closely with postdoctoral scientists and graduate students to gain experience in molecular biology as well as plant pathology research. For more details interested candidates are encouraged to visit the laboratory website.

Internship with Dr. Brian McSpadden Gardener, Wooster

E-mail: bbmg+@osu.edu
Website: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/mcspaddengardenerlab/
Many bacterial species can promote plant growth and health.  Our laboratory studies the diversity and activities of these beneficial plant-microbe associations.  For 2008, a position is available to assist with research related to microbially-mediated plant disease control. The position will combine field and laboratory duties to assess the efficacy of different biocontrol agents to suppress plant diseases. The intern will learn how to assess plant diseases, sample field plots, and quantify microbial populations using microbiological and molecular techniques.

Internship with Dr. Richard Sayre, Columbus

E-mail: sayre.2@osu.edu

Website: http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~plantbio/osu_pcmb/people/sayre.htm

There are three major research programs in our lab including:  1) Biofortification and Metabolic Engineering of Cassava: Research objectives include increasing bio-available levels of iron in roots, reducing cyanogen toxicity, increasing root protein content, reducing root post-harvest physiological deterioration, and developing root-specific promoters for transgene expression in cassava. Additional research programs focus on starch metabolism in cassava.  2) Photosynthesis: The focus of the program is the characterization of energy transfer processes in photosystem II (PSII) reaction center complexes. Our lab uses recombinant DNA techniques to generate site-directed mutations in chloroplast genes encoding proteins of the PSII complex. The mutants are characterized using a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques.  And, 3) Microalgal Biotechnology: Our microalgal (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) biotechnology research programs includes the characterization of heavy metal metabolism and its manipulation in transgenic algae, development of recombinant oral vaccines in microalgae, and the characterization of biosynthetic pathways for bacterial quorum sensing mimic compounds.  Additionally some work focuses on large scale expression of human recombinant proteins and selenoproteins.

Internship with Dr.David Somers, Columbus

E-mail: somers.24@osu.edu

Website: http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/pcmb/osu_pcmb/people_faculty_somersDavid.php

A summer internship is available with my group in understanding the function of the plant circadian clock. We use the model plant Arabidopsis to probe the molecular makeup of the 24 h timing system inherent in all plants and animals. You will have the opportunity to work with graduate students or post-docs to learn the basic molecular genetic and biochemical techniques used in our research, and possibly have a small project of your own. Please see our website for more information.

Internship with Dr. Eric J. Stockinger, Wooster

E-mail: stockinger.4@osu.edu

Website: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/stockingerlab/

The Stockinger lab is conducting investigations to determine the underlying molecular-genetic basis of freezing tolerance in plants.  We are sequencing regions of the genome that encode proteins playing key roles in activating and regulating biochemical pathways important for freezing tolerance.  We are investigating how these regulatory factors are themselves regulated, and are interested in identifying the critical elements encoded in DNA imparting the initial transcriptional output when a plant first senses low temperature.  We are also interested in understanding how these regulatory proteins mechanistically function to activate their downstream targets.  Our investigations utilize both model and crop plant species.  We train and mentor undergraduate students interested in learning lab and bioinformatic skills associated with molecular-genetic, and genomic analyses of plant freezing tolerance.

Internship with Dr. F. Robert Tabita, Columbus

E-mail: tabita.1@osu.edu

Website: http://www.osumicrobiology.org/faculty/ftabita.htm

One or two summer internship positions are available at The Ohio State University- Columbus, Ohio main campus to assist in molecular and biochemical studies of carbon dioxide assimilation and biofuels production catalyzed by photosynthetic microbes. The research will focus on the use of molecular genetic approaches to understand the regulation of genes involved in these processes and will also consider aspects of the structure and function of enzymes that catalyze important reactions. interns will work in close collaboration with postdoctoral scientists and graduate students to gain experience in molecular biology and biochemical research. For more details interested candidates are encouraged to check the laboratory website listed above.

Internship with Dr. Esther Van der Knapp, Wooster

E-mail: vanderknaap.1@osu.edu

Website: http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/vanderknaap/

Research in the Van der Knaap laboratory on the Wooster campus is centered on tomato fruit shape and processes that take place during fruit formation. Specifically, we are investigating how differences in gene expression regulate fruit form. Various projects are available and the interns will be exposed to DNA, RNA extraction, PCR, sequence analysis and database searches. These projects will be conducted in close collaboration with the PI, post doctoral associate and/or graduate students in our laboratory. For more information, please follow the laboratory’s webpage link listed above.

Internship with Dr. Guo-liang Wang, Columbus

E-mail: wang.620@osu.edu

Website: www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~wang/

The main focus of the Wang lab is to understand the mechanism of plant-pathogen interactions, and the signal transduction pathways leading to the induction of disease resistance responses. Both genetic and genomic approaches are being used in the program. They are currently using rice as the model plant since it is one of the most important food crops in the world, its genome is the smallest one among cereals and the genome sequence is publicly available. They are also interested in generation of novel genomics tools and resources for functional analysis of plant genomes. SURE Intern student will have an opportunity to participate in their disease resistance or functional genomics projects. For more information about the lab, visit the lab website listed above.