Rachel Siebenmorgen, graduate in the Class of 2022

Author: Rachel Siebenmorgen | Major: Biology

At the end of my thesis defense, one of my committee members asked me the question “what all have you learned while doing your research?” and I just remember thinking “absolutely everything”. It was similar to the saying of how a person’s life flashes before their eyes, but for me, it was instead all the things I did in lab that I truthfully didn’t even know existed until that moment. Granted, that could have also been the nerves from presenting on over a year’s worth of work, but it was still a humbling moment to say the least. As I am writing this, I technically have graduated from the U of A which is so very exciting to say and, in many ways, surreal so I have had time to reflect on my experiences especially the daunting ones like my thesis defense.

I graduated as the Class of 2022 from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences here at the University of Arkansas with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Medical Humanities. During my time here at the U of A, I was lucky enough to work alongside Dr. Mack Ivey of the Biological Sciences department who helped me complete and present a satisfying thesis about the structure and functionality of the SpoIIE protein in Clostridioides difficile formerly known as Clostridium difficile. Globally, C. difficile is among the leading cause of hospital-acquired infectious diarrhea and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality with an estimated half a million infections per year. It is most often found within the long-term healthcare setting due to the abundance of susceptible hosts such as a patient that has a weakened immune system or has decreased or eliminated their normal intestinal flora in response to antibiotic therapy creating an optimal growth environment. The protein SpoIIE has been shown to regulate C. difficile peptide utilization, sporulation, and toxin release. Because of this, there is great interest in it within the scientific community and within the Ivey lab.

When working the DNA and proteins, you often can’t tell if the experiment worked until the very end when you see the results which makes it highly interesting, but also frustrating at times. Personally, I have repeated multiple procedures in my time at the Ivey lab and had even gone back to the beginning to completely start over as I wasn’t getting viable results. It all paid off in the end however, because we received successful results which thankfully proved my work in the Ivey lab as useful. The purpose of my research topic was to determine the transmembrane region of the SpoIIE protein through two protein modeling systems and then do in vitro experiments to assess the accuracy of my models. Using two ab initio modeling systems, we determined the area we believed the transmembrane region corresponded by the comparison of models containing the full amino acid sequence and then one with the first 100 amino acids deleted.

In vitro experiments were then completed to determine the accuracy of my models with positive results received in the end. Ultimately, I created a new mutation within the Ivey lab that has the transmembrane region deleted and will subsequently be used in future experiments in the Ivey lab. There is no current model of the SpoIIE protein of C. difficile and ultimately that is the goal within the Ivey lab. However, a protein must have its transmembrane region removed prior to crystallization efforts and it inhibits the process. The new mutation created in the Ivey lab will allow future students one step closer to determining the model of the SpoIIE protein.

I am thankful for all the faculty that have helped me along the way, especially Dr. Ivey who had shown me guidance and endless knowledge both about C. difficile and other topics in life. Because of him and my work in the Ivey lab, I am attending UAMS College of Pharmacy this coming fall to pursue a career as a Research Pharmacist as I have found a passion for this field. Additionally, I am grateful for the Honors College to help fund and support my research efforts here at the U of A and the guidance by its faculty as well. I will end on phrase that has predominated my collegiate career: Woo Pig Sooie!