{"id":164,"date":"2014-07-22T11:33:37","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T16:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/?page_id=164"},"modified":"2016-08-15T17:03:43","modified_gmt":"2016-08-15T22:03:43","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/scholarship\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My research interests lie in how bacterial cells exchange genetic information with one another in natural environments.\u00a0 This is particularly important in studying how antibiotic resistance genes spread so quickly through populations of bacteria that cause disease.\u00a0 It is also critical in the understanding of how bacterial species evolve. Specifically, I study the process of natural genetic transformation in a single genus, <em>Aeromonas<\/em>.\u00a0 <em>Aeromonas<\/em> is ubiquitous in aquatic environments and can cause diarrhea and wound infections in humans. I have also started a new line of research in cave microbiology and looking at the antibiotic resistances that are present in bacteria that have not been exposed to humans or commercially produced antibiotics.<\/p>\n<p>I have broken my research up into several sections that undergraduate students can easily focus on and manage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Genes thought to be important in natural transformation of <em>Aeromonas<\/em>. <\/strong>As a doctoral student, I randomly interrupted genes in <em>Aeromonas<\/em>\u00a0with a transposon and then screened the cells for lack of transformation ability.\u00a0 After I found these mutants, I sequenced different portions of the genomes in these cells and found several candidates for genes to study further.\u00a0 At ACU, I have been having my students directly replace the chosen genes I identified earlier with one for antibiotic resistance.\u00a0 The gene of interest is completely removed and then the mutants are studied. After this, my goal is then to combine all of the students&#8217; results into one really good paper to submit to a journal published by the American Society for Microbiology.<\/p>\n<p>The genes to be replaced are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>recA<\/em>.<\/strong> The protein, RecA, encoded by this gene is responsible for homologous recombination.\u00a0 If a piece of DNA with a somewhat similar sequence is inside a host cell, RecA will recognize it and replace the old DNA with the new DNA.\u00a0 This protein is known to be essential in natural transformation processes in all known transformable bacteria.\u00a0 We are selected this gene to use as a demonstration that the methods we employ to replace genes and study natural transformation in my lab are reliable.\u00a0 This gene will be used as a &#8220;proof of principle&#8221; in the paper that describes the other gene replacements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>tapY1<\/em>.<\/strong> The protein, TapY1, encoded by this gene is a protein that makes up the type IV pili assembly machinery.\u00a0 Type IV pili are projections found on the outside of bacterial cells that may aid in extracellular DNA attachment and has been shown to be important in transformation in some bacterial cells, but not others.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>clpA and clpS<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0 The proteins encoded by these proteins have never been shown to be important in natural transformation.\u00a0 ClpA and ClpS are caseinolytic proteins.\u00a0 They are involved in degrading the milk protein, casein. They are also molecular chaperones, meaning they refold damaged proteins in stressful environmental conditions so the cell can survive.\u00a0 Natural transformation is induced under these same conditions.\u00a0 We do not yet know how these proteins are involved in natural transformation.\u00a0 We are excited to do more research to find out how.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Aerobiology of <em>Aeromonas<\/em><\/strong>. Another area of research that I have pursued with two ACU undergraduates is to determine how\u00a0<em>Aeromonas<\/em> has become and remains ubitiquitous in environmental water sources.\u00a0 As a graduate student, I evaluated flood water samples from New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina. (See <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/files\/2014\/07\/Hurricane-Katrina.pdf\">the PDF<\/a> for the published paper in a new window.)\u00a0 High numbers of <em>Aeromonas<\/em> were found in the flood waters. During one of the rare thunderstorms in Lubbock, TX, at the end of my doctoral work, I isolated what I thought to be<em> Aeromonas<\/em> from rainwater. I did not have a chance to pursue this area of research at the time, so I have pursued it at ACU.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Microbiology of Sorcerer&#8217;s Cave.<\/strong> The most recent area of research that I am pursuing is cave microbiology. Caves are interesting habitats to study in that they harbor unique microbes have been potentially sequestered from humans and our activities.\u00a0Specifically, they have been unaffected by the last 100 or so\u00a0years of clinical antibiotic usage. This isolation from the rest of the world allows scientists to find the answers to questions like: What are\u00a0the levels of antibiotic resistance when there has been no exposure to clinical antibiotics? Can these resistances be transferred? Are there<em> Aeromonas<\/em> species in cave waters? Are there novel antibiotic producers present in caves? Are there novel and useful bacteria in caves?<\/p>\n<p>This project was conceived when an ACU student, David Sanderson, told me that he was spelunking down into the deepest cave in Texas over Christmas Break and asked if I wanted any samples. I then asked him if he wanted to do undergraduate research. David has since graduated and manages a small family oil company. He continues to go down into the cave each January to bring back samples that my current students and I do research on.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/scholarship\/publications\/\">Next: Publications and Patent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My research interests lie in how bacterial cells exchange genetic information with one another in natural environments.\u00a0 This is particularly important in studying how antibiotic resistance genes spread so quickly through populations of bacteria that cause disease.\u00a0 It is also &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/scholarship\/research\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8397,"featured_media":0,"parent":85,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-164","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":985,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/164\/revisions\/985"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/85"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/jenniferhuddleston\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}