Course description: In this research-based course we will perform experiments to elucidate genetic mechanisms of how mitochondria are moved and shaped properly in developing sperm cells of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Approaches will include fly husbandry, DNA manipulation, and/or microscopy. Students should expect to spend at least 10 hours a week on this course, including the scheduled weekly meetings plus additional time in the lab working semi-independently. Students will be graded on an initial project proposal, participation and engagement, performance in journal article discussions, a final poster presentation on the project, and contributions to a manuscript to be submitted for publication.See the Bio301lab manual (log in with email credentials) for background on Drosophila spermatogenesis and for an example of the type of group experiment that may be performed.
Prerequisites: Bio 111 required; Bio 301 or 308 strongly recommended.
Time commitment: In addition to our Thursday afternoon weekly meetings, you are expected to put in additional time as your experiments require. You will have CatCard access to the building.
Email: You are responsible for all information sent by email, so check your messages every day.
Reading: There are no textbooks for this course. We will be reading and discussing papers from the literature that are essential background for the manuscript that we will draft.
Lab notes and data storage: You are required to keep a binder of detailed and organized lab notes and a folder of images/data on the lab computer. All electronic files should be clearly cross-referenced to the appropriate page/date in your lab notebook. Please back up your images/data on a flash drive and/or a CD. Also, once a month give me your data to back up on my office computer.
Weekly data and journal presentations: You will give a data presentation each week, and on some weeks you will lead discussion on journal articles.
Weekly individual communication with me: Each week you must either meet with me in person individually or send me an email to describe 1) your time and effort in the lab, 2) any current frustrations and questions, and 3) your plans for the upcoming week.
Manuscript contributions: As a group we will be drafting a manuscript on the mitoshell gene for submission to a journal. Keep separate Word files to document your own original contributions that are incorporated into the group effort.
Grading: Your grade will be calculated as follows:
Written project description/proposal |
Weekly data presentations |
Article discussions |
Contributions to manuscript |
Final poster |
Engagement/participation |
5% |
25% |
25% |
25% |
10% |
10% |
% |
94-100 |
90-93.9 |
87-89.9 |
83-86.9 |
80-82.9 |
77-79.9 |
73-76.9 |
70-72.9 |
67-69.9 |
60-66.9 |
0-59.9 |
Final grade |
A |
A- |
B+ |
B |
B- |
C+ |
C |
C- |
D+ |
D |
F |
Schedule |
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Date |
Discussion |
Activity |
Jan 17 |
Where does the mitoshell project currently stand? How to do literature searches, how to recognize the most important papers, and how to obtain PDFs |
Outline results section for paper; plan and divy up remaining experiments. |
Jan 24 |
Outcomes of literature searches Discussion of cytokinesis review article |
Determine which papers are most important to read, and set up schedule. Envision figures for results section of paper and work on figures for which we already have data. |
Jan 31 |
Data presentations Discussion of articles: Giansanti et al., 2001, Cell Struct Func 26: 609-617 . Giansanti et al., 2004, Molec Biol Cell 5: 2509-2522. |
Work on experiments. |
Feb 7 |
Data presentations Discussion of articles: Basu and Li, 1998, Mol Gen Genet 259: 664-673. Ichihara et al., 2007, Cell Struct Func 32: 89-100. |
Work on experiments. |
Feb 14 |
Data presentations Discussion of articles: Smith et al., 2004, Eukaryotic Cell 3: 1217-1226 Baker et al., 2004, Development 131: 3411-3422. |
Work on experiments. |
Feb 21 |
Data presentations Discussion of articles: Piekny and Glotzer, 2008, Current Biology 18: 30-36. Spiliotis and Nelson, 2006, J Cell Sci 114: 4-10 |
Draft section of introduction. Work on experiments. |
Feb 28 |
Data presentations Discussion of articles: Farkas et al., 2003, Mol Biol Cell 14: 90-100. Godi et al., 2004, Nature Cell Biol 5: 393-404. Discuss how the papers we have read so far fit together, and what we still need to know |
Work on experiments. |
Mar 6 |
Spring break | |
Mar 13 |
Data presentations |
Work on experiments. |
Mar 20 |
Data presentations Discussion of article: Rabionet et al., 2008, JBC in press. Discuss how the papers we have read so far fit together, and what we still need to know |
Expand introduction to include new information. Work on experiments. |
Mar 27 |
Data presentations Discussion of article: Fridberg et al., 2008, J Cell Sci 121: 522-535. |
Work on experiments. |
Apr 3 |
No meeting; Dr. H at Drosophila conference in San Diego | Work on experiments. |
Apr 10 |
Conference report Data presentations Discussion of article: Mikhaylova et al., 2006, PNAS 103: 11975-11980 |
Work on experiments. |
Apr 17 |
Data presentations Discussion of article(s) TBD Discuss how the papers we have read so far fit together, and what we still need to know |
Expand introduction to include new information. Outline discussion section. Work on experiments. |
Apr 24 |
Data presentations Discussion of article(s) TBD |
Refine new data figures for poster and paper. Draft results section. Work on experiments. |
May 1 |
Data presentations Discussion of article(s) TBD Wrap up discussion |
Refine new data figures for poster and paper. |
WWW
resources |
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Literature browsing/searching Browse
current journals
|
Drosophila resources
A
quick and simple introduction to Drosophila |
Mitochondria resources Mitochondrial
Research Society
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Sequence analysis NCBI
Main Page
|
Labs working on Drosophila spermatogenesis Chris Bazinet (St. Johns) |
Labs working on mitochondrial morphogenesis in yeast Rob
Jensen (Johns Hopkins) |
Labs working on mitochondrial morphogenesis in other systems Pascale
Belenguer (Université Paul Sabatier) |
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© Copyright 2008 Department of Biology,
Davidson College, Davidson NC 28035
last modified
March 20, 2008
by K.
Hales