Shor Lab – Protist-facilitated Bacterial Transport Project
Undergraduate Research Opportunity
Primary Graduate Student: Rebecca Rubinstein (1st year, Environmental Engineering PhD student)
Preferred Year/Major: Freshman, sophomore, or junior in chemical, biomedical, or environmental
engineering OR life sciences (experience with biology/ microbiology would be helpful)
Project Background:
Hunger and poverty affect 1 billion people worldwide. In the future, population growth, changing food
consumption patterns, and shifting climate will magnify the challenges we already face. No other global
challenge compares with food production in its importance to individuals, communities, and to future
global geopolitical security. The over-arching aim of this project is to develop seed coating technology
that will increase food crop yields.
The soil surrounding and influenced by the roots of plants is known as the rhizosphere. This zone
contains many microbes that thrive in the carbon-rich environment. These microbes can be very
beneficial to the plants; some bacteria protect the roots from pathogens or produce antibiotics or
growth factors, others fix nitrogen, mobilize nutrients otherwise locked in the soil, or secrete hydrophilic
polymers that moderate soil moisture. Protists have also been shown to be beneficial to plant growth,
releasing nutrients from bacteria when grazing and also controlling the bacterial composition of the
rhizosphere through selective predation on pathogenic bacteria while ignoring beneficial or neutral
species.
(A) The bacteria are depicted here in orange
and the larger more motile protozoa are
depicted in black.
(B) The seed casing releases both protozoa
and bacteria upon planting.
(C) Protozoa act as a transportations aid via
the methods previously described.
(D) Bacteria are better able to colonize the
roots of the plant.
Image created by Dr. Daniel Gage, Dept. of Molecular
and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut
Seed coating is already used as a means for targeted
delivery of nutrients, protective compounds, and
beneficial bacteria, but it has been shown that the
bacteria often do not spread evenly along the root
system. The specific goal of this project is to evaluate the
potential of protists as a transport mechanism for the
bacteria to encourage more even spreading along the
root systems of plants, ultimately leading to inclusion of
native, encysted protists in seed coatings.
The first phase of the project will involve loading
microfluidic devices with different combinations of
bacteria and protists and taking time-lapse pictures
under a microscope to observe the movement rates of
bacteria with and without protists present.
Undergrad Project Objectives:
Our goal is to observe and quantify the role of protists in transporting bacteria beneficial to plants
through soil and root systems.
For this project, you will need to:
1. Pour, cut, punch, and assemble microfluidic devices (as
shown to the right).
2. Load devices with various media and microbial cultures.
3. Use a microscope and associated software to monitor
the devices (an image from the preliminary trial is shown
below and to the right).
4. Use image analysis software to quantify the data from
pictures taken by the microscope.
How will working on this project help you?
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You will learn how to fabricate microfluidic devices, which are
increasingly being utilized in various fields, particularly in biomedical
and biomolecular applications.
You will gain experience in experimental design and procedure.
You will gain experience with various laboratory equipment and
procedures (particularly microscopy).
You will gain experience using image analysis software (FIJI) to turn
pictures into quantifiable data.
As this project progresses there may also be opportunities to help with the
design of new devices to better model the soil and root systems, if that appeals to you. If you are
interested in writing there may also be opportunities to be involved in the writing process for a
publishable paper.
About Me:
I received my B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of New Hampshire
and decided to continue directly to graduate school. I am now a 1st year PhD student in
Environmental Engineering. I have a part-time NSF GK-12 fellowship, which involves
going to science classrooms and the electronics shop at Windham Technical High School
and doing activities to get the students interested in STEM fields. Outside of the lab I
enjoy reading, video games, spending time outside, and playing goalie in ice hockey.
Undergraduate research is a great experience and can help you decide whether research is something
you would like to pursue as a career.
If you have any questions or think you might be interested, please email me at
[email protected] . Thanks!