Student Attitudes Contribute to the Effectiveness of a Genomics CURE.

The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) engages students in a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE). To better understand the student attributes that support success in this CURE, we asked students about their attitudes using previously published scales that measure epistemic beliefs about work and science, interest in science, and grit. We found, in general, that the attitudes students bring with them into the classroom contribute to two outcome measures, namely, learning as assessed by a pre- and postquiz and perceived self-reported benefits.

Facilitating Growth through Frustration: Using Genomics Research in a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience.

A hallmark of the research experience is encountering difficulty and working through those challenges to achieve success. This ability is essential to being a successful scientist, but replicating such challenges in a teaching setting can be difficult. The Genomics Education Partnership (GEP) is a consortium of faculty who engage their students in a genomics Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE).

The phosphoinositide phosphatase Sac1 regulates cell shape and microtubule stability in the developing eye.

Epithelial patterning in the developing eye requires the Neph1 homolog Roughest (Rst), an immunoglobulin family cell surface adhesion molecule expressed in interommatidial cells (IOCs). Here, using a novel temperature-sensitive (ts) allele, we show that the phosphoinositide phosphatase Sac1 is also required for IOC patterning. mutants have rough eyes and retinal patterning defects that resemble mutants.

Genome-scale analysis of anti-metabolite directed strain engineering.

Classic strain engineering methods have previously been limited by the low-throughput of conventional sequencing technology. Here, we applied a new genomics technology, scalar analysis of library enrichments (SCALEs), to measure >3 million Escherichia coli genomic library clone enrichment patterns resulting from growth selections employing three aspartic-acid anti-metabolites. Our objective was to assess the extent to which access to genome-scale enrichment patterns would provide strain-engineering insights not reasonably accessible through the use of conventional sequencing.

Functional genomic analysis of the 61D-61F region of the third chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster.

Assigning functional significance to completed genome sequences is one of the next challenges in biological science. Conventional genetic tools such as deficiency chromosomes help assign essential complementation groups to their corresponding genes. We describe an F2 genetic screen to identify lethal mutations within cytogenetic region 61D-61F of the third chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster.

The Sac1 lipid phosphatase regulates cell shape change and the JNK cascade during dorsal closure in Drosophila.

The Sac1 lipid phosphatase dephosphorylates several phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) phosphates and, in yeast, regulates a diverse range of cellular processes including organization of the actin cytoskeleton and secretion. We have identified mutations in the gene encoding Drosophila Sac1. sac1 mutants die as embryos with defects in dorsal closure (DC).

Comparative modeling of the phosphatase and kinase domains of protein tyrosine phosphatase and insulin receptor kinase from Drosophila melanogaster (DPTP61fm), and a computational study of their mutual interactions.

The components and functions of the insulin receptor kinase signaling pathway have been conserved in a broad range of Metazoa ranging from mammals to insects and nematodes. There is a high degree of sequence homology and functional similarity between the human insulin receptor kinase (IRK) and the drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster) form (DIRK) of this enzyme. Similarly, a high degree of homology exists between human protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) (which directly regulates IRK) and its drosophila counterpart DPTP61F (DPTP).