We congratulate our winner of the 2020 Willa Dean Lowery Fund to Support Research in the Natural Sciences:
Jean Smith, Assistant Professor of Biology
Uncovering Novel Mutations in Cell Fusion Genes Using Error Prone Polymerase Chain Reaction
Cell fusion is essential for the development of eukaryotic organisms. Sperm-egg fusion occurs during fertilization, muscle cells fuse to form muscle fibers, and placental cells fuse for proper implantation during pregnancy. Fusion has also recently been implicated in cancer development and progression. Unfortunately, relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms and regulation of cell fusion. Studying this process in budding yeast allows for identification of genes involved in fusion. Importantly, many genes and proteins are conserved from yeast to humans, which has allowed the identification of yeast fusion proteins that have subsequently been shown to be important in muscle fusion. Here, I propose a screen to uncover novel mutations in a known regulator of fusion in yeast. This project requires mutations to be made using polymerase chain reaction, which requires a thermocycler. We do not have a thermocycler capable of the long reactions required to make these mutants. Not only is this equipment required for the current proposal, it is also essential for most molecular biology research. Therefore, acquisition of a thermocycler would have a great impact on my growth as a teacher-scholar and allow me to conduct exciting projects with senior research students as well as inquiry-based labs.