Presenting Preliminary Results at the Arkansas INBRE Conference
Author: Mary Kathryn Cheek | Major: Biology, Psychology | Semester: Spring 2025
Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or brewer’s yeast, is able to take up DNA from its environment in a process known as transformation. Previous work in the Lewis Lab observed variation between the ability of various strains of S. cerevisiae to transform. Transformation can have large evolutionary consequences, as it presents an alternative way for the transfer of genetic material to Mendelian genetics. Currently, transformation is highlighted in the medical community’s struggles with antibiotic resistance bacteria. Transformation helps to drive antibiotic resistance, as it allows cells that have experienced mutation and subsequent resistance to propagate this ability to other nearby cells. Determining the loci responsible for variation in transformation in S. cerevisiae may provide insight into what drives transformation in other species, like these antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
I discovered this project after joining the Lewis Lab. I found the Lewis Lab by researching various labs in the biological sciences department online and then emailing Dr. Lewis to ask about potentially joining his lab. I was originally interested in the lab because of the work being done on stress, but when the variation in transformation in various strains was discovered, I became interested in this project.
Beginning research as a freshman required me to initially do lots of outside research to better understand my topic. I found reading recent articles about similar topics to be very useful in my research. On top of doing literature searches, I found one of the best ways to learn would be both trial and error and simply listening to what others in my lab were working on. Attending weekly lab meetings was very useful for this. Learning to communicate my current schedule, questions, and goals to my mentor and other members of the lab helped me to gain independence in my work.
The support of my primary investigator, Dr. Lewis, staff scientist who trained me, Stephanie Hood, and our lab manager, Dr. Tara Stuecker, has been paramount to my success in the lab. Each one of them has invested both in my research and my long-term career and educational goals. Joining a lab with a culture of support and encouragement has proven crucial for my research success.
Last November, I was able to present a poster at the Arkansas INBRE conference. This conference was held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and I was able to share the preliminary results of my research with students and faculty from around the state. I enjoyed the opportunity to build my verbal presentation skills. At this conference, I was also able to talk to students participating in various yeast and microbe work.
As I go into my senior year, I am excited to wrap up this project. After completing experiments last fall, DNA sequences were sent for sequencing. I have received the sequencing results of my project and am currently working to code and interpret this data. After identifying sequences of interest, we plan to confirm these potential candidate sequences via allele swaps and gene knockouts. After confirming causal loci, we hope to publish our work.