Histology CURE Lab in Breast Cancer
Aylin Marz, Norfolk State University

DNA cloning and protein analysis of animal-heme peroxidase within collagen IV of the extracellular matrix
Isi Ero-Tolliver, Hampton University
This CURE is to expose undergraduate students to the process of DNA cloning to identify the critical amino acids of the animal-heme peroxidase,peroxidasin, responsible for catalyzing sulfilimine bond formation within collagen IV of the basement membrane. Students will bioengineer a variety of mutants through primer design and polymerase chain reactions that contain point mutations within the immunoglobulin domain of the peroxidasin.

From an Inquiry-Guided Project to a CURE in General Biology: Testing Repellent Effects of Essential Oils and a Parasitoid Wasp Against Callosobruchus maculatus.
Joseph Felts, Davidson-Davie Community College

Worms Rule- Investigating variation in isoform function
Anna Allen, Howard University
Integrating research into undergraduate science courses has been a long-term goal of many institutions. Research-based laboratory courses provide students with authentic research experiences while also helping them develop their analytical thinking and problem solving skills. Through these type of courses, students begin to understand and apply many fundamental concepts in biology while also contributing to the scientific field. To provide a research experience consisting of many common laboratory skills and the current buzz technique of CRISPR/Cas9 endogenous genome editing, we designed a one-semester research experience for undergraduates. By the end of a single semester, students enrolled in our upper level biology elective course successfully edited the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Throughout this course, students were exposed to molecular biology techniques (PCR, gel electrophoresis), imaging techniques (confocal microscopy), and CRISPR/Cas9 concept and techniques in C. elegans. Ultimately, the goal of this course was to provide students with a meaningful undergraduate research experience while generating reagents (namely C. elegans strains) that assist the instructor's personal research objectives.

The affect of different bioactive compounds or phytochemicals from plant extracts on the proliferation of breast cancer cell lines
Herman Fennell, Hampton University
Approximately 25% of today's prescription drugs come from plant extracts, but only about 15% of the known plant species have been screened for medicinal purposes. There are many plants that have yet to be screened for their medicinal benefits. Students will chose plants, with known health benefits, but can extracts from these plants decrease the proliferation, decrease reactive oxygen species or even inhibit the metastasis of cancer cells. There are many plants such as ginseng, saw palmetto and even onions and garlic which contain anti-carcinogenic properties. Proposed Project: After an extensive literature review, students will plan and carry out experiments on understanding which plant extracts exhibit anti-carcinogenic properties of different cancer cell lines.

Ecological variation in functional traits of plants
Lisa Wallace, Old Dominion University

Modeling Insect-Microbe Interactions (MIMI)
ZAKEE SABREE, Ohio State University-Main Campus
Gut microbes are increasingly being linked to beneficial host outcomes, yet we know little about how specific bacterial species contribute to these outcomes. Gut microbial communities are often comprised of tens-to-hundreds of bacterial species which makes assigning specific functions difficult. Insects like the American cockroach are ideal for modeling how gut bacteria benefit their hosts because they require them for normal gut development. Furthermore, the American cockroach can feed on a wide range of diets, including a primarily plant-based diet, and thus require gut bacteria to help them to digest plant cellulose, a major constituent of plant tissues. We have developed a germ-free American cockroach system that allows us to inoculate these specially-prepared insects with bacteria of our choice and detect a wide range of host developmental and physiological outcomes. Given that there are hundreds of culturable bacterial species that are known to inhabit the American cockroach gut, we can assay the impacts of these bacteria on this insect as a course-based undergraduate research experience. We will use several qualitative and quantitative measures of insect development post-inoculation to assay the effect of the bacteria. Students groups will be assigned unknown bacterial species, with replication across at least 3 groups to provide minimal statistical power. Additionally, students will identify their bacterial species using molecular approaches and assay them for their ability to degrade plant carbohydrates (cellulose and pectin) and antibiotic resistance (which is a measure of possible antibiotic production). Finally, by performing these experiments students will learn about animal, including insect and microbial, physiology and symbioses, and contribute novel data regarding the impact of gut bacteria on host development and growth.

Investigations in Toxicology
Celia Dodd, Fort Valley State University

S-BUG Soil Biodiversity UnderGraduate Research
Shawn Dash, Hampton University
An important area of ecological research is that of soils and their influence on the structure of plant communities and therefore the overall habitat. Equally, important is the structure of soil communities as part of ecosystem form and function. While many studies have focused on particular soil taxa, the overall diversity of communities or composition and configuration of particular pathways (such as brown food webs), few studies have focused on documenting and understanding the entire soil community for temperate and urban ecosystems. This study will address the following overarching questions: 1) What is biodiversity of various soil communities across assorted habitats?2) How are communities organized and differentiated along environmental gradients? 3) How are soil arthropod communities structured regarding functional groups? And 4) how have human-regulated habitats altered soil communities in reference to biodiversity and structure? This CURE will address such questions by focusing on elucidating how do soil macroinvertebrate (biotic general) community memberships vary across landscapes –especially in the context of human activities? As well as, what factors impact/influence community diversity and ecosystem form and function?

Restoring Longleaf Pine Savanna in the Face of Global Change
Sally Koerner, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Longleaf pine savanna is one of the most endangered ecosystems in the United States and is also one of the most biodiverse understory plant communities in the world with biodiversity levels rivaling that of tropical rainforest. As only 3% of this ecosystem remains, experiments will focus on ways to best regrow plants from seed as would be done in the restoration process. Students work in small groups to define a research question within a defined context set by Dr. Koerner, design the experiment that would best answer their question, and then execute it over the course of the semester. For example, a group may want to know how increased temperature impacts the establishment of Wire Grass (the dominant grass species). This group would then plant seeds and expose different pots to different temperatures and monitor them for seedling growth. At the end of the semester each group will present their group results and write a report.