Let me just start by saying HOW COOL  WAS THAT 46th JTM/31st PRISM? I mean, I just loved the whole experience… like best feeling in the entire world! I guess I would have loved to see each of you doing your oral presentation, but the schedule was all weird… Still, I bet you all did great! (I did awesome!)

Anyway, here’s like my history through undergraduate research with BioMINDS in a little picture collage…

Those pictures doesn’t lie, great memories, great people, and great work!

But what about the whole “BioMINDS experience” right? Well, BioMINDS has been a good part of my growth as an undergraduate student. Thanks to this program, I’ve had an awesome research experience that will be my introduction to graduate school, and as a professional. Because of this experience, I can proudly say that I made my mind on what is what I really would love to do, and what am I going to do after all of this… Well, as many of you may know, I just love insects, they’re my passion, and that’s what I’m going to do. ENTOMOLOGY is my future. So here’s the history of those first steps made by a kid working his way through life to become that Entomologist. All in the name of science for a better world…

Peace out!

As always, time is passing by FAST, and the PRISM 2011 is right around the corner! I’m guessing you’re all working on your oral presentations, so Imma be as quick as possible…

So far, we have been working with the Phyllophaga specie proyect for about 4-5 months now, and the data collected is as good as expected. As “predicted”, the numbers have been going up and down (mostly down) because we just kind of passed the “cold season” or winter here on Puerto Rico. Still, we know its good results, cause then in late April-early May when adults emerge from the ground to reproduce, we will be collecting as much as 20+ individuals per trap. And believe it or not, that’s a hell lot of beetles as we’re catching less than 5 per trap. For our goal, we just doesn’t have one, I mean, if we catch some or not, it’s still good results, as expecting more or less beetles per trap its just unpredictable.

Right now, we have achieved not so much yet, as we’re not looking for it at the moment, just running it to see what we get. Obviously, we have established 6 different traps in different locations but we cannot say they’re good or not, cause 1, 5, 10, 50 or just cero are still good data. For our surprise, time hasn’t been a problem at all this semester. We’re just dealing with maybe the season because it has been slow with not so many beetles, but it’s all good. Nothing to worry about.

As for the PRISM 2011, I’m still working on my presentation and I just hope to do a good job that day. I’m kind of nervous, not gonna lie… So let’s see how it goes!

Now, I present to you, my research project Abstract:

Population Survey Of Phyllophaga plaei (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) along an elevational gradient in eastern Puerto Rico.

Phyllophaga (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) species are considered serious pests in Puerto Rico because they feed on the roots of a wide range of cultivated plants with economical value. The particular specie Phyllophaga plaei, a Puerto Rican May Beetle or “Cacúlo” occurs in the eastern/coastal area of Puerto Rico and in Vieques. The objective of this study is to analyze the distribution of P. plaei over an elevational gradient to establish a possible correlation between its abundance and elevation factor. Plastic beetle traps baited with anisole (the female pheromone) were placed on or near forested areas at six different locations (approximate elevations: 1 m, 35 m, 80 m, 200 m, 280 m and 350 m) in the municipalities of Humacao and Naguabo, P.R.  Traps were open for one week after baiting and specimens were collected bi-monthly. Results indicate that beetles are more abundant at lower elevations (near sea level) and scarce at higher elevations (over 100 m). It has been shown that emergence of Phyllophaga shows distinct seasonal patterns, with a population peak starting in May.  We expect that these results may vary depending on the year’s season. This research project was possible in part by the sponsorship of the BioMINDS Research Program.

Good luck to all of you on this new semester…

First of all, yes, I know I should have posted a picture of me working in the lab, but since I don’t actually work in a laboratory, Imma soon post a picture of me probably collecting the beetles. And yeah, a picture of the beetles, so you guys might get to know them.

Secondly, I also know that I should write a paragraph describing “the most important results obtained so far” in my research. Well, I’ve only got a set of data from two weeks ago since my next set will be from this Wednesday, so yeah, I’m going to write about them and try and explain a little bit more of the process.

As you may know, I’ve been working with the specie Phyllophaga plaei, a Puerto Rican May Beetle or “Cacúlo” for about 3 months now. It was not until about the beginning of this month that we we’re able to successfully go out and mount all of the traps at different locations. Believe it or not, it took us all that time to be ready and finally hit the road, probably because we were developing a full new research. Ok, so we went down the road, through some narrow roads and slippery slopes (I’m not kidding…), and we found the perfect places for the beetle collection stations, all of em up the same road, except for the first one. That was the first Wednesday of November, so then the next Wednesday, we had to go there and collect anything caught in the trap. It seems like a “piece of cake”, but hey, don’t you dare to go there without your proper footwear ready (we both learned that the hard way). That next Wednesday we got our first set of data: Trap#1 – 4, Trap#2 – 2, Trap#4 – 2, Trap#5 – 0, Trap#6 – 6, and Trap#7 – 0. Now, I know what you’re thinking, and no, I did not just forget about Trap#3, it’s just that for that time, there was no trap in that particular place. As you can see, not many beetles were caught, and there won’t be much of them til maybe around late May or early June. That’s the time were they emerge as adults from the ground they have been for the past three years as larvae. With this data collected every two weeks for about a year, we will be making a “census” of beetles, their flying seasons and how it varies, if any, at different elevations. I guess I could come back on Wednesday and post my new data so you guys will be able to see how the project is going.

I know it’s not much, but this is not something you hurry up. And as I said, we’re in the cold months, so we won’t be seeing and/or collecting much cacúlos as we might want.

Anyway, hope you Biomates and different people associated with Biominds have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Let’s make 2011 a better year than it was 2010.

P.S. Mates, don’t forget to check out for Research Internships for summer 2011. I’ve doing that now and I’m about to apply for some of em. Good Luck!

• First blog from: Laura Del Valle

Laura’s research is focused in the prevalence of antibiotic resistance traits in bacterial isolates and the characterization of the genes that confer this function, specifically in environmental samples and in food samples like yogurt. Yogurts are products produced by bacterial fermentation of milk using cultures of Lactobacillus or Streptococcus. In Microbiology, and probably in Immunology too, there’s the concept that when you ingest some of this bacterial species (also Bifidobacterium species or spores from Bacillus species), your body is able to restore some of its intestinal natural flora or simply help with digestive processes. The natural flora is the collection of organisms that you would normally find in a healthy person, which are mostly bacteria. The problem here is, what if this bacteria we are consuming is giving antibiotic resistance to different pathogens? It surely constitutes a major risk, not knowing that unconsciously, we are developing a barrier against antibiotics and indirectly, fomenting the develop of pathogen resistance.

As a Microbiology student myself, I think this research is definitely of great importance as this “antibiotic resistance” will only mean worst and stronger pathogens that will be able to cause some serious problems to the human population and we won’t be able to stop unless we know those genes that confer this function to them.

• Second blog from: Keren Valentín

Keren’s research is focused in studying the electronegativity of HBI for the development of a biosensor capable of identifying and quantifying directly H₂S. She used Hemoglobin I (HBI) because it is involved in the transportation of H₂S, and this interaction has an extraordinary affinity. To improve the signal obtained using cyclic voltammetry and the detection of this substance, they had to modify a gold electrode surface, but to achieve it, it was very important and crucial to maintain the protein adhered to the electrode surface. Hemoglobin is a protein in the red blood cells that carries oxygen between the lungs and body tissues. If I got it right, when the H₂S (hydrogen sulfide) combines in the blood, the blood is incapable of carrying oxygen. Because of that, what you will get is a form or derivative of hemoglobin called sulfhemoglobin, which will prevent the normal oxygen binding. So, identifying and quantifying H₂S is very important because it’s related with contamination and the development of serious illness. So far they have obtained information about the stability of the equilibrium of the protein; determined the amount of electrons that are transferred during the redox reaction and have modified gold electrodes using cysteine and 3-mercaptopropionic acid along with nickel ion and the recombined protein HBI (rHBI).

Again, a super important research we got here. Being able to develop this biosensor means saving many lives. In simple words, for your very own body to work properly, you’ll need oxygen. With sulfhemoglobin, there will be no oxygen binding protein, so with no oxygen, you will die.

Hemoglobin molecule

And now for a little update about my research:

In the past few weeks, we have been working out the final details and specifications of the project, and I was able to do a little “practice”. What I did was set up the traps right in my backyard to see how they worked. Guess what? Not a single beetle was caught. Still, I did the same at the university, and again, not a single one was caught (which was unexpected cause you can see many of them all around the floor). Somehow its felts like but I wasn’t disappointed at all. About a day later, one of em’ showed up in my window and another one two days later. I ended up with 4 cacúlos at the end of the week. (Not using the traps, I know, but it was nice to catch them as part of my pre-research training). Then, one thing that was holding us was that we didn’t have much of the pheromones left and we didn’t know much about it neither, but we got green light on it, we’re getting it, and we are good to go. So right now ladies and gentleman, in about a week or less, we’re setting up the traps on the different altitudes and we will begin this.

So you might be wondering why this post’s called “Transitions” am I right? Well that’s easy. Things don’t always end up as well as you expected, but it’s your responsibility to know when to move forward and make things work for yourself and your future. But to summarize, yes, I’ve got a new research.

Phyllophaga plaei

From now on, I’ll be working with Prof. Ariel Díaz, Ph.D., with insects and I’m sooo freaking happy you’ve got no idea (yes, you’re looking here at a future Entomologist!). Well, I’ll be working with the specie Phyllophaga plaei, which is a Puerto Rican May Beetle or “Cacúlo” as we call them, and these little guys are considered serious pests here on the island because they feed on the roots of a wide range of cultivated plants. This particular specie, previously known as Phyllophaga portoricensis, occurs in the eastern/coastal area of Puerto Rico and in Vieques. What we will be doing is, using the sex pheromones released by the females, which believe it or not, its chemical composition will vary between species, to attract males at different elevations to have an idea of its distribution and establish a correlation between the specie and its distribution.

Our objectives for this semester are:

• Collect individuals at  different elevations once every month
• Identify them (male/female, specie, elevation found) [we’re most likely to collect males since we will be using the female's pheromones to attract them!]
• Try and establish a proper correlation between the specie and the elevation where it was found

As you might have noticed by now, this research project have NOTHING to do with my previous one. No explanation needed. All I can say is that, this will be as exciting as the other project, maybe even more, who knows.

Now to conclude with this post, which techniques am I going to develop with this project? Well, although is not really relevant to my project, I’ll be learning about the sex pheromones and its chemical composition. I guess I will also be learning about the tramps and how to use them, and more importantly, I will develop better techniques at using the dissection microscope. And this is not a technique but, it’s really important for every project to get to know really well the organism you’re working with, so yeah, I will be learning everything about my Phyllophaga plaei for a long time now.

May/June Beetle Life Cycle

As you might remember, about 3 posts ago, I was told to visit 3 bio-blogs and write something about them. Well guess what? I’m doing it again… but yeah, different bio-blogs, different people, different topics, and same awesomeness as last time. Doing this just makes me know some of you a little bit more, personal and scientifically speaking. But hey! I bet you’re all really busy as we are getting closer to the end of the semester, so I should get this thing started!

Mite

First Blog from: Tatiana Rodriguez

Tatiana’s research works with the collection and identification of unreported Mite Genera in Puerto Rico with Dr. Ariel Diaz.  Mites, along with ticks, belong to the subclass Acarina (also known as Acari) and the class Arachnida. Apparently, mites are very different morphologically speaking, which means that they will vary in shapes according to each genre. There are at least 350 species of mites that have been reported for Puerto Rico, and yet there’s still almost no information or papers about the topic here on the island. Most of these mites’ species are birds or reptiles associates, insect’s parasites and commensals or soil mites. This research, believe it or not, have so much implications out there, from its flora & fauna aspects to its clinical/medical aspects, because mites can cause several forms of allergic diseases and can also serve as vectors of disease.

Tropical seagrass Talassia testudinum

Second Blog from: Ileana Marrero

Ileana’s research works with endophytic fungi and the microbial nitrogen cycle on in-vitro cultures of the tropical seagrass Talassia testudinum. Endophytic fungis are organisms that live in association with plants and grow between their tissues without any outward manifestation. One of her research objectives is to determine the important roles of fungi in the plant tissues they inhabit, but in order to do that, they have to micropropagate T. testudinum. Micropropagation is a way to clone plants axenically, which basically means that is entirely free of all other “contaminating” organisms.

Sea Cucumber

Third Blog from: Melanie Torres

Melanie’s research focuses on the molecular aspects of regeneration, specifically on the expression of genes involved in the “Ubiquitin Proteasome System” during the process of intestine regeneration of the Holothuria glaberrima (sea cucumber). The sea cucumber is an echinoderm, part of the deuterostome group which has the great capacity to regenerate organs after their loss. Ubiquitin is an important protein that is found in the cells of plants and animals, including humans, and its main role is to label for degradation unwanted proteins in the body, such as those which have been damaged by use or which are too old.  The UPS system then, is involved in important biological processes such as non-lysosomal degradation of cellular proteins and modulation of cellular decision making. Most mutated, denatured or misfolded proteins are degraded by this system.  Specifically, the major roles of the UPS are: regulation of the cell cycle, cancer and cell survival, inflammatory responses, immune response, protein misfolding, ER associated degradation and disease progression. There is currently great excitement over the possibility of replacing damaged body parts through the new field of regenerative medicine. Potential strategies of regenerative medicine include stem cell transplantation, implantation of bioartificial tissues synthesized in the laboratory, and the induction of regeneration from the body’s own cells by rendering the injury environment and/or responding cells regeneration-competent. But regenerative medicine cannot become a reality without a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of regeneration, driven by advances in molecular, cell and developmental biology, and information science and technology.

And now, to get back to my research… (I know you loved those 3 blogs, but don’t forget about mine alright?)

My research experience for this semester has been not so different from last semester. The only difference is that now I have been going out to the field to collect and analyze some flowers. Honestly talking, I haven’t learned anything new as I have been doing mostly the same and my research doesn’t really require any special technique or equipment use, at least for this phase I am right now. Some of the barriers or challenges I have faced this semester are as always the time and schedules, which specially this semester, didn’t help any of us. Secondly, I have this condition called Colorblind which makes me have trouble with colors, so most of the time I’m out in the field, someone has to be with me to help me identify the exact colors, and sometimes it’s really frustrating. How I have overcome that? Well, mostly we have been working separately, working whenever we get that chance, and about my Colorblind, well that’s forever, but my mom’s my field technician, so she’s always close when I need to analyze a color.

As for my goals for next semester, I really wish to start from scratch with a new research topic. I’m really excited about starting my senior year and about my future plans involving Entomology, so I will be looking for some Ecology/Zoology related research I could work with.

     Imma going to start by saying that I’ve finally started collecting data and to be honest, the actual “doing-it” it’s totally different than just saying it. What I mean is, I collect data in natural forests (Jardín Botánico de Rio Piedras), and I always thought that I really knew the collecting techniques, until I went and put them on practice. I felt really bad, but then I realized that that’s the whole point in science, you know, the experience is based on practice, so yeah, I need to practice a little bit more. At least I still could find some of the flowers I was looking for, took pictures, their colors, and I felt better, cause not everything was lost.

     So now I’m supposed to choose a laboratory technique that I have learned in my undergraduate research and say how I’m going to use it, but as you guys know, I don’t do “laboratory research”, so there’s nothing really complicated so far. Techniques that I have “learned” (but recently found out that need more practice) are basically how to use a refractometer, and how to use mini pipettes to collect nectar from flowers. The refractometer is used to measure the percent (%) of sugar in the nectar sample. This is really useful when you’re on the field and you have fresh taken samples, because refractometers are handheld and really easy to use. The mini-pipettes, as I said before, are used to collect nectar by introducing them directly into the flower. I believe those are the only “techniques” I have been using in the field.

     Now, I bet that all of you are craving to know the progress of this project, and I’m not gonna let you wait any longer. Right now I can tell that in a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being no progress at all and 5 being “I’m done with my project and I can’t wait to start another one”, I’m in between of 2 and 3, I’m basically a 2.5. I have achieved a little bit more than 10% of the objectives proposed, not 50% just yet, but I’m getting closer, I promise. And to let all of you wondering, we have some ideas circling our minds, so we’re seeing how we can include them in the project. The only thing I could say is that, if we do it, it will blow your mind.

     And as always, there are some difficulties we have to face in between achieving the goals proposed. This semester I have faced the difficulties of doing field trips by myself, and not the three of us together, mainly because of different schedules and whatnot. What I mean is not that I can’t do it by myself, it’s just that working as a team, we could help each other and the data itself is easily taken. But it’s not actually as bad as it sounds, we still try to get together for field trips, but it’s hard sometimes. Different classes, different schedules, different personal stuff to deal with, and it’s totally understandable. Another difficulty was me not really knowing how to do the techniques I thought I knew. That made me lose some time, but I quickly met with my mentor and we talked about it. Other difficulties that in my opinion are ALWAYS present are time, cause we’re undergraduate science students at UPR, and you know classes are sometimes competitive and you need to be responsible and dedicated. The important thing is to do everything as best as you can, not letting anything to affect you or your performance and your responsibilities.

[And in some different news, I would like to share that I have decided that what I really like are insects (you guys hate them don’t you?), so I’m really interested on pursuing an M.S. and or Ph.D. degree to become an Entomologist. With the time, I’ve found out that you should always pursue what you really like, cause that’s what you’re going to do for the rest of your life, so you better do something you really enjoy.]

   As part of this new semester, I will be continuing with my previous research project, with the only difference being that, I will finally start collecting data. For this, we have established some objectives that me personally, wish to get done by the end of this semester. First of all, after some talking and analysis of what exactly is relevant and necessary for the good of the project, we have decided to only collect: flower colors, quantity of nectar produced and nectar concentration. With this data, my mentor and I believe that it will be enough to get some decent results and then proceed with conclusions, without wasting my time collecting unnecessary stuff. Secondly, we decided to stay with at least 20-30 flowers to analyze, cause with that much we make sure to have enough data for decent results and maybe I can actually go and collect some more if there’s the possibility, instead of just collecting like 20 or less flowers, cause that’s just not enough data to prove my point. And thirdly, we are hoping to get all this done in time for the poster presentation, and just for the sake’s of the project itself, I really need to “Hurry up!” without rushing things up.

   Of course all this objectives got to be related to my previous semester posts, and how is that possible you say? Well, these objectives give continuity to my project. That proposal of mine is looking good although is like never ever complete to be honest, it’s like you could be always changing or adding information into it, and we still think it might need some changes, but so far, it’s pretty good. Also I’ll be really soon beginning to collect all this data, and I’m really excited about the results.

   One thing that is really important in this phase of the project, which is one thing that I will do for the first time, is going out to the real thing, to be out there in the field all by myself. (And I mean first time like working on the actual research) My data, and by all means, the whole future of the project, will be based on my skills and my abilities to collect and report everything on my field notebook. All of these skills will be strengthen by doing the work itself.

And I know this will be a hell of a busy semester, but hey! we’re science students, that’s how we like it!

• First Blog from: Beatriz Andujar

     Beatriz research works with the aspects of hemoglobin and the formation of sulfhemoglobin, mostly with the crystallization of the sulf complex. Hemoglobin is a protein in the red blood cells that carries oxygen between the lungs and body tissues, and sulfhemoglobin is a form of hemoglobin found in the blood in trace amounts, that contains an irreversibly bound sulfur molecule that prevents normal oxygen binding (cannot carry oxygen). With the crystallization of this sulf complex, they could analyze it very carefully for a better understanding of it. If I got it right, they use a solution of Myoglobin, a protein that has the ability to store oxygen in muscle tissue, with the H₂S buffer, which action causes the formation of the sulfhemoglobin, because of its important role in oxygen transportation during oxygen deprivation mostly for cardiac muscle. If this work it’s successful, they will surely be able to help many people who due to the lack of oxygen in their blood end up dying.

• Second Blog from: Krisiam Ortiz

     Krisiam research works in the Bioprocess area within the production of cellulosic ethanol. Her project consists on a renewable energy source based on biomass which will generate less contamination compared to actual fossil fuels energy sources like gas and oil. The conventional ethanol and cellulosic ethanol are the same product, but are produced utilizing different feedstocks and processes. While ethanol is typically produced from the starch contained in grains such as corn and grain sorghum, it can also be produced from cellulose. Cellulose is the main component of plant cell walls and is the most common organic compound on earth. Cellulosic ethanol can be produced from a wide variety of cellulosic biomass feedstocks including agricultural plant wastes (corn stover, cereal straws, sugarcane bagasse), plant wastes from industrial processes (sawdust, paper pulp) and energy crops grown specifically for fuel production, such as switchgrass. Her research works with the production process of enzymatic hydrolysis, which utilizes pretreatment processes to first reduce the size of the material to make it more accessible to hydrolysis. Once pretreated, enzymes convert the cellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars. The final step involves microbial fermentation yielding ethanol and carbon dioxide. Cellulosic ethanol provides positive environmental benefits in the form of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.

This picture summarizes the whole production process.

• Third Blog from: Luisamari Dorna

     Luisamari research works with the effect of cholesterol depletion in caveolin binding motif AchR mutations. Her project is based on the characterization of different mutations with the purpose of determine the sensitivity of these new mutations to cholesterol levels, the effect of aromatic amino acids in these mutations, the preferential interactional place between caveolin and the mutant AChR, and the effect in the mutants before treatments with different statin drugs. An acetylcholine receptor (abbreviated AChR) is an integral membrane protein that responds to the binding of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. Cholesterol depletion is when cholesterol levels in the body have been artificially lowered too far. These patients treated with statin drugs (while best known as drugs that lower cholesterol, can also reduce cardiac events in patients with high cholesterol levels who are at increased risk for heart disease), develop a strong muscular weakness associated with the statin treatment’s side effects, with a development of congenital myasthenic syndromes symptoms (In myasthenia gravis, the receptor is targeted by antibodies, leading to muscle weakness). This relationship between the syndrome and susceptibility to cholesterol may be due to the development of mutations that generate a caveolin binding motif. After studies they found a series of mutations that could generate a caveolin binding motif that induce a certain affinity by the receiver to the caveolin. But having the amino acid database of the different receptor subunits in three different species: Homo sapiens (human), Mus musculus (common rat) and Torpedo californica (electric ray), they can identify the positions with the capacity of generate a strong caveolin binding motif with a single aromatic substitution.

     And now I know that you’re probably craving to visit those blogs described above, but just wait a little bit more, it won’t take much of your time, just promise you will finish reading my entire post. Promise…? Good!

My Research Experience, What was all this posts about?  

     During this whole semester, I’ve been working with my research project, which is about those pretty awesome birdies called Hummingbirds, their interaction with flowers, and how those flowers attract them. As for what I have learned, well, I think I know by now a lot more about them, or at least what I really need to know about them. Most of that “learning” comes from my extensive papers and articles review, which wanted or not, you will have to do it, and you will learn a lot about your topic doing it. My project, specifically, gets kind of slow sometimes as I had to do a proposal, which is super extensive and it’s really important that it contains only what is needed, so my mentor have to keep an eye on it, but it’s all good. During this semester, I have faced mostly extracurricular barriers, as the entire nation was on strike due to political difficulties, which affect everyone in a way or the other. Also, the whole data collection have been some kind of a barrier, as I almost have no free time on weekends, and less during the week. At least, one of my research partners made a full list of plants visited by hummingbirds including a picture, where is located, blooming time, etc, which is really useful to identify the exact location of each of those plants. So far, we, and I mean me and my partners, are done with the whole proposal phase, and it was approved by our mentor. Now, I’m currently on the data collection phase, which as I said before, has been kind of slow and hard to make. But that’s part of what we call RESEARCH right? For the next semester, which hopefully will be a better one, my goals are still kind of the same: Collect and analyze at least 20-30 flowers.