Research

The students who are admitted to the program will have the opportunity to experience cutting-edge research over a wide range of various disciplines (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) and emphases (biochemistry, botany, ecology, microbiology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and zoology) and to perform research on an independent project under the guidance of a faculty mentor. During their 10 week internship, the admitted students will design and perform the experiments, and interpret the results in close collaboration with their faculty mentors.

Below you will find a list of research project proposals from the Summer of 2008:

Ectomycorrhizal associations and their contribution to nutrient uptake and heavy metal tolerance of pines
(Areas: Botany, Cell Biology, Ecology, Mycology, Structural Biology).
The mycorrhizal symbiosis, a close mutualistic interaction between plants and fungi, plays a significant role for the nutrient uptake of over 80 % of all known land plant species, but is also essential for the resistance of some plants against heavy metals. In this project, mycorrhizal roots will be screened for their heavy metal content and the mechanism by which these fungi accumulate heavy metals and protect their host plants will be analyzed.

The role of ectomycorrhizal fungi for the remobilization of nutrients from decomposing leaf litter
(Areas: Biochemistry, Botany, Ecology, Mycology, Structural Biology).
Ectomycorrhizal fungi play a significant role for the nutrient uptake of pines, and it has been shown that these fungi can also take up nutrients such as P, N and Ca from litter and transfer these nutrients to their host. However, it is not known, whether the nutrients are first mineralized by other members of the decomposer community, and then taken up the fungus, or whether the fungi directly are able to mobilize nutrients from the leaf litter matrix. The students will study the remoblization of nutrients from decomposing litter and the uptake and transfer of these nutrients in the mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Litter decomposition and the influence of burning on plant litter chemistry
(Areas: Chemistry, Ecology, Structural Biology)
Fire and control burning are natural and management tools used in the Pinelands. In order to reduce the risk of wildfire, over the last 40 years control burning has been introduced. Using the predominant leaf litter types in the Pinelands, the students will follow the decomposition process of partially burned leaf litter and will examine the effect of burning on the availability of nutrients, on microbial decomposer communities and on the carbohydrate chemistry in these litters.

Investigation of fungal saprotrophic communities in acidic brown stream waters
(Areas: Chemistry, Ecology, Mycology).
Fungi are important members of the decomposer community and preliminary surveys of fungal spores and structures on decomposing leaf litter have confirmed that Pinelands stream water contains a diverse fungal flora. In this project, the students will characterize the fungal community structure in Pinelands stream water and will follow the changes in the carbohydrate chemistry during the decomposition of leaf litter in streams.

Fungal – fungal interactions during wood decomposition
(Areas: Ecology, Microbiology, Mycology)
It was shown recently, that exudates from wood previously colonized with early stage decay fungi led to species-specific growth responses and had stimulatory or inhibitory effects on late stage decay fungi. The students will collect various wood decay fungi from sporocarps and from inside of wood logs from the New Jersey Pinelands and will follow (1) the growth responses and the recolonization of previously colonized wood slices (after sterilization) by various wood decay fungi, (2), and the decomposition processes by EDXS and FT-IR.

Identification of modified nucleosides in tRNA within plants and fungi naturally occuring in the Pinelands
(Areas: Biochemistry, Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Mycology)
As in other RNAs, the four conventional nucleosides can be modified at specific positions in tRNA through the function of specific enzymes. It has been suggested that these modified tRNAs might act as sensors of different kind of stresses in different organisms and could be indicators for the health status of an organism. The students will purify and digest tRNA, and separate the nucleosides by HPLC from different organisms naturally occuring in the NJ Pinelands to study tRNA modification and their correlation to environmental stresses.

Elemental depositions in fish ear otoliths and soft tissues provide information on origin and contaminant exposure
(Areas: Cell Biology, Ecology, Neurobiology, Structural Biology, Zoology)
Otoliths are calcium carbonate (aragonite) structures found within a bony fishs inner ear. Trace elements are incorporated from the environment into an aragonite matrix. Since otoliths are non-metabolic (unlike bone or tooth), a daily incremental growth presents a temporally permanent tree-like ring record of the incorporation of dissolved elements due to environmental exposure. The Delaware River as a water source is known to be subjected to contamination from oil refineries and other man-made enterprises. The students will analyze ultrastructurally the heavy metals in fish otoliths and will establish an elemental fingerprint for each estuary.

Elemental mapping of heavy metals in fish brains from the Pinelands
(Areas: Cell Biology, Ecology, Neurobiology, Structural Biology, Zoology)
Fish are known to accumulate heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead from the environment, particularly in kidney and brain. Aside from the risk to human health of consuming fish with elevated levels of mercury, the toxin is known to have deleterious effects on fish predatory and escape behaviors. The behavioral effects of toxic heavy metals are likely to be related in part to a disruption of normal signaling functions of divalent cations in the brain. The students will determine which brain areas accumulate toxic heavy metals, an important information for understanding brain mechanisms mediating effects of the toxic heavy metals on fish predatory and escape behaviors.

Phylogeography of leeches in the Pinelands
(Areas: Evolution, Molecular Biology, Zoology)
Leeches (Annelida:Oligochaeta) comprise a derived group of clitellate annelids that are poorly represented in phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses. To date, no systematic survey of leeches or other oligochaetes has been conducted in NJ. The students will collect specimens from various locations within the NJ Pinelands, and individuals will be selected for sequencing two genetic loci, mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase 1 (CO1) and nuclear 28S rRNA—two common markers that can provide measures of gene flow between populations (CO1) and relative evolutionary distances between species (28S rRNA). Data generated from these analyses will provide baseline information on the species diversity, distribution, level of gene flow between populations and dispersal mechanisms of leeches in the NJ Pinelands.

Spectroscopic detection of nitrogen fixation in leaf litter during decomposition
(Areas: Biochemistry, Biophysics, Ecology)
The absolute nitrogen (N) content of forest leaf litters increases during the time course of decomposition. Partly responsible for this N immobilization in leaf litter could be free-living bacteria that can fix N nonsymbiotically during decomposition. The dominant plant species in the NJ Pinelands differ in their polyphenol and their nutrient contents and this leaf litter chemistry also affects microbial and faunal communities during decomposition. The students will follow the nitrogenase activity of leaf litters during decomposition by using multipass spectroscopical techniques.