This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009 and is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Zomary Flores is "Role of methionine sulfoxide reductases in the oxidative stress response of Vibrio fischeri and Euprymna scolopes light organ colonization." The host institution for this research is the University of Georgia under the sponsorship of Dr. Eric Stabb.
Humans, animals, and plants interact with microbes throughout their life. Some of these interactions may be beneficial or harmful to the host's health. Host-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) play important roles in the maintenance of beneficial and pathogenic microbial infections as they can cause protein, membrane, and DNA damage in the microbe. The bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri forms a natural symbiosis with the bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes). This interaction is an important model for more complex and less well-defined beneficial animal-microbe interactions. This research focuses on a protein repair system from V. fischeri, called methionine sulfoxide reductase (Msr). Specifically, the results clarify the roles of Msr in the bacterium's ROS resistance, bioluminescence, and host interaction. In addition, proteins targeted by this repair system in V. fischeri are being identified.
Training objectives of this research include developing and expanding laboratory technical skills. Host-microbe interactions play important roles in host health, so further understanding of the mechanisms that are involved in maintenance of these beneficial infections is critical for understanding plant, animal, and human health. This research contributes to understanding host-associated microbe resistance to host-defenses and provides insight into the behavior of microbes that form persistent pathogenic infections. Broader impacts also include mentoring undergraduate students from underrepresented groups.
