Faculty Advisor
Politz, Samuel M
Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a model organism for investigating innate immunity using microbial pathogens. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, commonly known as baker's yeast, was found to associate with C. elegans by colonizing the intestinal lumen and causing intestinal distension. We found that when grown on S. cerevisiae, mutants carrying mutations in mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase kinase genes mek-1 and mek-2 accumulated intestinal S. cerevisiae more rapidly than wild type. Intact S. cerevisiae cells expressing an RFP-tagged protein were visible in the intestinal lumen by fluorescent microscopy, and their accumulation correlated with intestinal distension.
Publisher
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
April 2009
Major
Biology and Biotechnology
Project Type
Major Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
All authors have granted to WPI a nonexclusive royalty-free license to distribute copies of the work, subject to other agreements. Copyright is held by the author or authors, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
Accessibility
Unrestricted
Advisor Department
Biology and Biotechnology