Together with Dr. Arlene Hoogewerf's lab, we are examining the mechanisms by which Mycobacterium chlorophenolicum, a gram-positive soil bacterium, protects itself from the toxic effects of pentachlorophenol (PCP). PCP is a potent biocide that was extensively used to treat wood products in the past. PCP is toxic to most microbes; however, M. chlorophenolicum resists the toxic effects of PCP, and even metabolizes PCP. To understand the mechanism of toxicity of PCP to bacteria, and how M. chlorophenolicum protects itself from that toxicity, we are comparing the effects of PCP on oxidative phosphorylation in M. chlorophenolicum and other species of mycobacteria. Students working on this project will have the opportunity to learn and use the following techniques: basic maintenance and growth of bacterial cultures, fluorescence spectroscopy, HPLC, and molecular biology.