Project Title: Superresolution imaging of 3D nucleosome organization and chromatin structure

Project Duration: May 22 – July 28, 2017 (10 weeks), 40 hours per week.

Project Mentors

• Primary Faculty Mentor (Name, Affiliation, website and Email/Phone):
  • Peter Kner, CENGR, knerlab.engr.uga.edu, kner@engr.uga.edu
• Secondary Faculty Mentor (Name, Affiliation, website and Email/Phone):
  • Rabindranath De La Fuente, College of Veterinary Medicine, Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, http://vet.uga.edu/vph/labs/de-la-fuente/, rfuente@uga.edu
• Graduate Student/PostDoc mentors (Name, Affiliation and Email/Phone):
  • Abhijit Marar, CENGR, abhijit.marar25@uga.edu

Project Description: The Kner and De La Fuente Labs are interested in using a novel 3D superresolution fluorescence microscopy approach to study nucleosome organization and the role of specific proteins in chromatin organization. The project involves the engineering of a new superresolution microscope, imaging of chromosomes, and biological questions that are important for in reproduction.

REU Student Role and Responsibility: The REU student will assist a graduate student in developing the microscope and in imaging experiments on samples form the De La Fuente lab. The student will assist in developing software to run the microscope and process the images, will help run the microscope to collect data, and will help prepare the samples for imaging.

Expected Outcome for REU student: The student will be trained in cutting-edge microscopy techniques and exposed to important questions in modern biology. Superresolution imaging of the nucleus is a hot topic. This project is expected to result in at least two publications, one focusing on the biological science and one on the technology development.