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My
laboratory recently published a study showing the adhesive strength of the
holdfast secretion of a non-infectious species of bacterium, caulobacter
crescentus, to be strongter than the commercial superglue (Tsang et al.,
PNAS, 2006, 103:5704). This work generated huge publicity, and was
featured last year in National Public Radio, Nature, Science News, Fox
News, and numerous websites such as Yahoo, Google, etc. To this date,
however, we have not isolated adequate quantity of the bacterial secretion
for strutural and compositional analysis. We anticipate hosting a
motivated undergradute majoring in chemical and life sceince to explore
and test a method of isolating the bacterial secretion using an available
mutant that sheds its adhesive holdfast.
Over the ten week
summer research, the selected undergraduate student will learn to grow the
mutant bacteria, collect the medium containing shed holdfasts after
removing the cells by sedimentation, and then collect the holdfasts using
lectin functionalized agarose beads, to which the holdfasts strongly bind.
The harvested holdfasts will be biochemically processed and analyzed using
methods such as gel electrophoresis and mass spectroscopy. By the
conclusion of the summer project, the student is expected to have
established the method and prove it feasible for larger scale isolation of
the bacterial adhesive. Through preliminary testing, the student will also
have confirmed some key components in the bacterial secretion and perhaps
have identified some previously unknown components. The effort of the
summer student will on one hand enhance his/her knowledge and skills in
laboratory research, and on the other hand contribute to attracting future
funding for this promising project with a broad range of applications such
as surgical medicine and biodegradable seal. |
