Rebecca Jeun |
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UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHER |
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Keck Hall, Room 327
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Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 6100 Main Street Houston, TX 77005 |
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rwj2@rice.edu |
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| In a previous study in the Shamoo lab, a "weak link" approach was used to study evolution on the molecular scale. The necessary adenylate kinase gene (adk) in the thermophile Geobacillus stearothermophilus was replaced with its counterpart from the mesophile Bacillus subtilis. Growing G. stearothermophilus with the maladapted mesophilic adenylate kinase at an increasing temperature ramp put selective pressure on the organism. Mutations eventually arose in the gene to allow the organism to survive at higher temperatures. My current work focuses on developing a real-time fluorescent assay of the energy charge of G. stearothermophilus cells undergoing stress. This assay will be used to characterize the activity of mutant adenylate kinases observed in the different selection regimes being studied. | ||
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