Scholar Profiles
Amber Wolff
2003 - 2004 University Scholar
Mentor: Daniel Brown
College of Veterinary Medicine
"When I applied to the USP, I had already been conducting research on mycoplasma alligatoris, a unique strain of mycoplasm that is lethal to alligators. I found the project so interesting that I wanted to devote a full year of my undergraduate studies to it, and the USP has made that desire a reality."
Amber is a senior majoring in business administration, with an outside specialization in microbiology. A Florida Bright Futures Scholar, she enjoys studying biology and genetics and is a member of the National Collegiate Scholar Society. Amber is an active animal welfare proponent and enjoys volunteering for various humane societies and is a member of the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).
Research Description:
Annotation of the Mycoplasma Alligatoris Genome
The genomes of hundreds of bacteria which influence human and animal health and disease are expected to be characterized within the next few years. A broad objective of that work is increased understanding of how bacteria cause disease. Mycoplasma alligatoris is remarkable because it causes hyperacute lethal infection in alligators and closely-related caimans, but is harmless to distantly-related crocodiles. The mechanisms through which it causes disease in some hosts are unknown. Comparative bacterial genomics is a new tool needed to elucidate the genetic basis of mycoplasmal disease.
The intent of this project is to determine the location and identity of all the genes in certain segments of the M. alligatoris chromosome. The hypothesis is that genes involved in M. alligatoris virulence can be identified by genome sequence analysis.
The hypothesis will be tested by searching for genes whose biological roles or predicted properties in other infectious agents are consistent with the pathogenic effects of M. alligatoris. The DNA sequences of some segments of the M. alligatoris chromosome, called contigs, are each long enough to code for one or more genes.
The relative locations of genes in the contigs will be predicted by bioinformatics software trained to recognize characteristic features of bacterial genes (promoters, coding sequences, codon usage, and terminators) by analysis of the DNA sequences. This will accomplish the initial physical mapping of the genome. The identity of some genes can then be recognized by their similarity to genes already known in other bacteria, by using DNA sequence comparison software and gene sequence data available through GenBank. Genes will be categorized as "confirmed" if they are similar to known genes in other species, "conserved hypothetical" if similar genes of unknown function exist in other species, and "hypothetical" if there are no matches in GenBank. This will accomplish annotation of the physical map of the genome.
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