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31St Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference UC Davis 31 st Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference 1 31st Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference Letter from the Chancellor May 7, 2020 Dear Students, Colleagues and Guests: On behalf of UC Davis, it’s my pleasure to welcome you to the 31st Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference! UC Davis is one of the top research universities in the nation, with globally leading programs in agriculture, veterinary medicine, environmental science, healthcare and more. Our scholarship and research addresses some of society’s most critical challenges, including climate change, feeding the world and sustaining the health of all living beings. Student researchers are at the heart of the research enterprise. They represent a wide variety of fields and are critical to building a better tomorrow. Through this conference, we are preparing our students to move into the future with confidence and creativity. We are providing and showcasing educational opportunities that prepare students for career success. Many employers are looking for talented people who not only shine in their research and scholarship, but also have the capacity to collaborate and communicate their work in the most impactful manner possible. In addition to the skills developed during research, these oral and poster presentations are a great form of practice as our students prepare for graduate school and the workforce. Our students are currently facing an environment like no other, amid a pandemic that has changed every facet of daily life. Yet they still maintain their passion for their research and desire to participate in a virtual conference. Our students continue to demonstrate their ability to problem solve and adapt to any situation. I congratulate the student presenters for their dedication and excellent work thus far. They have partnered with faculty mentors and peers in a spirit of collaboration and discovery. Now, they can share their work with experts in their fields and our UC Davis community. I want to thank the Undergraduate Research Center for organizing this important conference and connecting students with important research opportunities, programs and awards. I also want to recognize our faculty members, who serve as mentors and role models for students. Your collaboration and mentorship with students brings out the very best in UC Davis, and your work helps prepare them for future success. Finally, I extend my gratitude to the many faculty volunteers and staff who serve as moderators for the conference sessions. This is exactly the kind of thoughtfulness and synergy between students and faculty that defines UC Davis. I wish everyone a great conference and thank you for bringing out the best in our university. Gary S. May Chancellor 2 UC Davis 31 st Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Undergraduate Research, Thank you to our Sponsors Scholarship & Creative Activities Conference gratefully acknowledges Global Affairs the faculty sponsors and other Student Affairs individuals whose mentoring has UC Davis Library contributed to the research produced Undergraduate Education by our presenters. We would also Undergraduate Research Center like to thank the many programs that generously support and encourage Conference Co-Chairs undergraduate research and creative activities at UC Davis. Among these Lolita Adkins & Annaliese Franz | Undergraduate Research Center are the following: Beckman Scholars Program; California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP); Educational Conference Organizing Committee Enrichment Outreach Programs (BUSP, Jenny Arabit | Undergraduate Student Representative BUSP-Honors, BSHARP-MARC, CURE, Jacques Bowyer | Graduate Studies, McNair Scholars Program ADAR); Innovation Institute for Food & Lili Bynes | Dean’s Office, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Health Undergraduate Research (IIFH), Connie Champagne | College of Biological Sciences; BUSP Internship and Career Center; McNair Dee Clark | Undergraduate Research Center Scholars Program; Mentor-Mentee Annaliese Franz | Undergraduate Research Center Program in Humanities, Arts, Cultural Raynell Hamilton | Student Academic Success Center; MURALS Studies and Social Sciences; Holly Hatfield | Dean’s Office, College of Letters & Science Mentorships for Undergraduate Sharon Lee | Undergraduate Research Center Research in Agriculture, Letters and Shadaya Litt | Dean’s Office, College of Engineering Science (MURALS); Mentorships for Alex Lopez | Undergraduate Research Center Undergraduate Research Participants E.M. Nunez | Undergraduate Research Center in the Physical and Mathematical Izaiah Ornelas | Undergraduate Student Representative Sciences (MURPPS); Provost’s Rufa Pazyuk | Dean’s Office, College of Engineering Undergraduate Fellowship; University Sarah Stinson | Undergraduate Research Center Honors Program; UC Davis Washington Patrick Vaughn | Dean’s Office, College of Biological Sciences Program; UC Leadership Excellence Through Advanced Degrees (UC Design and Publications LEADS), and Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP). Steven A. Morse | Undergraduate Education UC Davis 31 st Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference 3 4 UC Davis 31 st Annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference Enzymatic Function of Succinate Dehydrogenase from V. Unsymmetrical Bipyridine Coordination in radiata Mitochondria [(R3P)Au(bipy)]XF6 Complexes Kaitlyn Abe Alexandria Adams Sponsor: James Letts, Ph.D. Sponsor: Alan Balch, Ph.D. Molecular & Cellular Bio Chemistry Plant respiration is an essential metabolic process, like Based on a known synthesis and crystal structure of a 2,2’- photosynthesis. However, unlike photosynthesis, little is known bipyridyltriphenylphoshinegold(I) hexafluorophosphate complex about plants’ respiratory complexes and the detailed ([(Ph3P)Au(bipy)]PF6), apparent unsymmetrical bond lengths mechanisms by which they produce energy. Succinate between Au(I)-N in the bipyridine to gold(I) coordination were dehydrogenase, also known as respiratory Complex II (CII), plays investigated. Similar gold(I) bipyridine complexes were central roles in plant respiration and physiology and is often the synthesized to confirm if the unsymmetrical bond lengths would target of herbicides. In addition to four conserved subunits, CII reoccur in similar complexes. Triphenylphosphine (Ph3P) and contains four plant-specific subunits. In order to understand triethylphosphine (Et P) were used as ligands and plant respiration, it is critical to understand the roles of these 3 - - plant-specific subunits and molecular mechanism of the hexafluorophosphate (PF6 ), hexafluoroarsenate (AsF6 ), and enzyme. I adapted and optimized a protocol from classic plant - hexafluoroantimonate (SbF6 ) were used as anions to synthesize literature to measure the enzymatic activity of CII in purified + mitochondrial membranes from mung beans. From these five new complexes. The [(Ph3P)Au(bipy)] crystals are + assays, I derived the CII’s turnover rate and Km and discovered isostructural to each other; separately, the [(Et3P)Au(bipy)] inhibitor constants that had previously not been described. crystals are isostructural to each other. The bipyridine ligands Results from these assays will allow for a better characterization coordinate to the gold(I) in an unsymmetrical fashion in all the of CII and will help to interpret the enzymatic structure and roles complexes in their crystalline form. The unsymmetrical bonds of each subunit. between Au and N decrease going from P to As to Sb in the anion, for Ph3P and Et3P. Distance differences ranged from 0.241(2) to 0.146(2) Å. In comparison to Ph3P, Et3P complexes Manipulating Human Intestinal Epithelium Cell Surface N- display more unsymmetrical bipyridine coordination to gold(I). glycans Influences Salmonella Infection The complexes show no sign of luminescent properties, in comparison to other known gold(I) phosphine complexes, and Kavya Achyutuni further investigation was done with multiple collaborations to understand why the unsymmetrical coordination, an unusual Sponsor: Carlito Lebrilla, Ph.D. condition for bipyridine complexes, is favorable. Chemistry Microbe-host interactions are mediated by protein-carbohydrate binding processes. The adherence of pathogenic bacteria to Cytokines as a Measure of Maternal Inflammation: A Link cellular targets in mammalian tissues is important for virulence. Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) is a bacterium that to Alterations in Offspring Neurodevelopment infects the blood and intestinal tract and causes typhoid claiming the lives of 200,000 people annually. Glycosylated Sarah Adams intestinal epithelium cells are the first barrier in the mammalian Sponsor: Melissa Bauman, Ph.D. system that bacteria infiltrate. However, limited methods to MED: Psychiatry & Behav Sci comprehensively explore the roles of host glycans involved in Women exposed to viral or bacterial infections during bacterial infection exist. We established a cell-based model to pregnancy are at a greater risk of having children with perform reliable structure-phenotype correlative experiments neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. The rat MIA and compare the effect of individual N-glycan types in bacterial (Maternal Immune Activation) model was employed to further infection. We treated the human colon cancer cell
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