With this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program Professor Erin Wilson and colleagues Christopher Wentworth, David Clevette, Andrea Holmes and Tessa Durham Brooks from Doane College will acquire a 300 MHz Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer with solid and liquid capabilities. The proposal is aimed at enhancing research training and education at all levels, especially in areas of study such as biochemistry, plant physiology and condensed matter physics.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is one of the most powerful tools available to chemists for the elucidation of the structure of molecules. It is used to identify unknown substances, to characterize specific arrangements of atoms within molecules, and to study the dynamics of interactions between molecules in solution and also in the solid state. Access to state-of-the-art NMR spectrometers is essential to chemists who are carrying out frontier research. The results from these NMR studies will have an impact in synthetic organic/inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, physics and biochemistry. This instrument will be an integral part of teaching as well as research.
Doane College acquired a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer for solution and solid samples in order to 1) facilitate and expand research projects with undergraduates, 2) provide opportunities for high-school students to study and use state-of-the-art instrumentation through outreach activities and 3) incorporate this important and modern instrument into the chemistry curriculum at multiple points. Outcomes Goal 1: Significant progress was made in several ongoing research projects as well as projects made possible by the acquisition of this instrument. These projects are multidisciplinary and in many cases collaborative. Biologist Dr. Tessa Durham-Brooks investigates molecular pathways involved in root spatial orientation. Chemical changes occurring in the root tissue of Arabidopsis thaliana plants during gravity-driven root reorientation were monitored by NMR techniques. This information is helping to elucidate the molecular mechanism of this complex biological process. Along with results obtained by other methods these changes, including a possible decrease in key amino acid levels, implicate a glutamate receptor molecule as important in this reorientation. Chemist Dr. Andrea Holmes developed and patented DETECHIP, a dye-based sensor array capable of responding uniquely to hundreds of analytes. Her research group used the NMR spectrometer to explore interactions between dye molecules and analyte molecules in order to understand and improve the function of the sensor. Biochemist Dr. Erin Wilson used this instrument to investigate the molecular interactions involved in the binding of gram-positive bacteria to surfaces, which is the first step in biofilm formation. Biofilms are communities of bacteria that can cause problems in medical and industrial contexts, and which are difficult to remove or eradicate. Dr. Wilson’s research group uncovered specific interactions between negatively-charged phosphate groups in bacterial attachment molecules and a metal oxide surface, information that may lead to new surface-coatings to prevent bacterial attachment and biofilm formation. Numerous projects, new approaches to existing projects and research collaborations have been enabled by the acquisition of this instrument. In addition to the projects described above, several other projects are now in their initial stages. Doane is in the process of forming a Center for Undergraduate Biofilm Research (CURB), a multiple-investigator project that aims to develop strategies for preventing and fighting biofilms. Biologist Dr. Barb Clement plans to use NMR to understand the transport of nutrients and other small molecules through the complex 3-D architecture of a biofilm. NMR will also be used to investigate metabolic changes in bacteria as biofilms form and mature. The structure and properties of anti-biofilm surface coatings developed by CURB will also be determined in part using NMR. Beginning in the summer of 2014 biologist Dr. Kate Marley will investigate metabolic changes occurring in metastasizing cancer cells at different stages of metastasis. Chemist Dr. Mark Wilson and University of Nebraska biologist Dr. Eileen Hebets have formed a collaboration to investigate by NMR what nutrient in the male dark fishing spider confers benefits to offspring when the male is eaten by the female after mating. Dr. Wilson is also working with William Stringfellow of the Quest Products Corporation to determine whether the presence of phosphonate in fertilizer improves nutrient uptake of plants using NMR. Seven undergraduate students have completed or are currently working on research projects involving the NMR spectrometer. These students work independently on this advanced piece of instrumentation. They present their research at local, regional and national scientific meetings, including the annual Nebraska Academy of Sciences meeting and 2012 annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Biologists. One of these students is a published co-author of a scientific paper. Goal 2: The NMR spectrometer has been used for high school outreach in partnership with the Nebraska EPSCoR-funded Center for Nanohybrid Functional Materials (CNFM) and Nebraska Center for Algal Biology and Biotechnology (CABB). As part of "Nanocamp" in the summer of 2013, high school students got hands-on experience using the NMR spectrometer as they studied the structures of nanomaterials they had synthesized themselves. Students in "Algae Camp" performed NMR on simple samples and learned about how the instrument works and its potential to provide useful information on the fuel potential of different algae types. Goal 3: Use of the NMR spectrometer by undergraduates has been incorporated into three courses in the Chemistry curriculum. Students taking Organic Chemistry perform experiments to determine the structures and purity of molecules they synthesized in the laboratory portion of the course. The students involved are Chemistry, Biochemistry and the majority of Biology majors at Doane. Students taking Analytical Chemistry complete inquiry-based projects using the instrument in which they develop and carry out procedures to find out how much of a substance of interest is in a sample. In Instrumental Analysis, students investigate the links between atomic and molecular properties and instrument design and function, concentrating on how this instrument works. In each of these experiences, undergraduates work hands-on with this important tool of chemistry.
