What do you get when you mix 75 students at a rural Ohio high school

Hiram Genomics Initiative Outreach

Since January, 2002, the Hiram Genomics Initiative (HGI) has been active in education and outreach activities. Its goals are to involve undergraduate and high school students in novel genomics and microbiology research projects as part of the classroom in order to (1) teach basic scientific principles involved in genetics, molecular biology, bioinformatics, genomics, biochemistry, and microbiology, (2) excite students about getting the most out of their biology education, and (3) encourage students to seek out further research experiences beyond the classroom. Approximately one-sixth of the Hiram College student body has participated in HGI activities during that time as have over 300 high school students from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

Rootstown High School

What do you get when you mix 75 students at a rural Ohio high school, one excited biology teacher, genetically modified crops, and a genome project on the plant pathogen and biotechnology agent Agrobacterium? The answer is a lot of fun, a healthy dose of integrated learning about basic biology and biological applications to agriculture, and more proof that young scientists can contribute to novel research as part of their learning.

On Wednesday, May 23rd, students at Rootstown High School in northeast Ohio presented posters to members of the community about their year-long research project led by their biology teacher Stephanie Lammlein. Their efforts are one of the outreach projects of the Hiram Genomics Initiative at Hiram College, supported by grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Science Foundation. Over the course of the academic year, the Rootstown students carried out transposon mutagenesis of the sequenced bacterial strain Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58, and screened several thousand mutants for phenotypes such as auxotrophy, acid and base sensitivity, salt sensitivity, motility defects, and biofilm defects. Over one week last December, Ms. Lammlein and her students brought their mutants to Hiram College where Brad Goodner and Cathy Wheeler of the Biology Department helped them isolate genomic DNA and clone out the transposon insertion sites. The insertion sites were sequenced and Professor Goodner, program director for the HHMI grant at Hiram, helped the students learn the basics of bioinformatics. The students then tied the identification of their mutant genes back to the altered phenotypes, linking genes to basic cellular functions. All along the way, Ms. Lammlein led her students through a book reading and discussions of the science behind genetically modified crops and the hopes and concerns that come with the use of those crops.

Benedictine High School

Ever wonder what grows on the surface of a leaf, underneath pebbles at the bottom of a stream, or on the wall of a cave? The students in a biology class at Cleveland Benedictine High School and their teacher Diana McBeath found out through an outreach project of the Hiram Genomics Initiative at Hiram College, supported by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. For the past six years, Ms. McBeath and her students have collaborated with Brad Goodner and Cathy Wheeler of the Biology Department on a variety of research projects. They have generated transposon mutations in several different bacterial strains and characterized different types of mutants, and they have isolated tumor-inducing Agrobacterium strains from plant galls collected around their neighborhood. This year, they set out to learn how bacteria are identified.

Ms. McBeath and her students brought environmental samples from the Cuyahoga Valley National Park back to the lab where they plated out dilutions on different microbiological plate media. They learned sterile technique and eventually were able to get many bacterial isolates into pure culture. The students then used a combination of classic culture-based identification methods and modern PCR-based techniques to learn more about their strains. Amplified 16S rRNA genes were sequenced and compared to publicly available databases. Strains from the genera Acinetobacter, Aeromonas, Bacillus, Exiguobacterium, Flavimonas, Janthinobacterium, Kocuria, Pseudomonas, and Serratia were confirmed.

HGI efforts have been supported as part of several research grants from NSF and USDA, as well as by the HHMI undergraduate science education grant that started in 2004. For more information about the Hiram Genomics Initiative and other efforts at Hiram College funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, please contact Brad Goodner at 330-569-5260 or goodnerbw@hiram.edu.