Research Plans
We are studying bacteria isolated from soil contaminated with pentachlorophenol (PCP), a toxic pesticide formerly used extensively to treat wood products. These bacteria are particularly interesting because in addition to resisting the toxic effects of PCP, they are also able to degrade PCP. We are currently trying to understand how these bacteria protect themselves from PCP toxicity and to determine how they degrade PCP.
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.
