RISE SPONSORED STUDENT SUMMER SYMPOSIUM Thursday August 8, 2019 Time: 9:00AM-4:00PM (Lunch Provided) Location: Cal Poly Pomona Library, 4th Floor Thursday August 8th, 9:00AM to 4:00PM at Cal Poly Pomona Library, 4th Floor Time Presenter's Name Title of presentation 9:00-9:15 Welcoming Remarks by Dr. Adler-Moore Moderator: Dr. Adler-Moore Phylogenetic Systematics of the sea slug genus, Cyerce (Bergh 1871): The 9:15-9:30 Karina Moreno Hidden Gems of the Sea 9:30-9:45 Eric Breslau Tuning Tunicates: a Phylogenomic analysis of chordate subphylum Tunicata Understanding the developmental changes and genetic pathways that trigger 9:45-10:00 Ana Alcaraz floral organ abscission in Aquilegia coerulea Sydney T Determining the effects on ESCRT-III recruitment by STIV via site-directed 10:00-10:15 Ghazarian mutagenesis of B345 Untangling the role of SEPALLATA homologs in floral development of 10:15-10:30 Karapet Mkrtchyan Aquilegia 10:30-10:45 Break Moderator: Dr. Buckley Exploring the Yeast 2-Hybrid system as an effective screening method for 10:45-11:00 Robert Manuel archaeal viral lysis mutants 11:00-11:15 Noel Martinez Abundance and distribution of urban birds in residential and park spaces 11:15-11:30 Anthony Dant Effects of urbanization on two species of passerine bird in Southern California Brandy A. Methane Emissions In Cattle Farming - Methods to Reduce California’s 11:30-11:45 Weathers Impact on Global Warming Analysis of Organochlorine Pesticides (OCPs) in Stranded Harbor Seal 11:45-12:00 Raul Flamenco (Phoca vitulina) Pups from the Northeast Atlantic 12:00AM- Lunch 1:15PM Moderator: Mrs. Airan Jansen The role of Complement Receptor 4 in trogocytic killing of the 1:30-1:45 Jose Moran parasite Trichomonas vaginalis by neutrophil-like cells 1:45-2:00 Alexis Crayton Antiviral activity using various agents against influenza virus Characterization of antibody production and antibody isotypes for monoclonal Adilene S. 2:00-2:15 hybridoma clone recognition of Cryptococcal neoformans capsular Sandoval Decasacchride-CRM197 structure Identification of Candida auris cell wall proteins as virulence factors and 2:15-2:30 Edgar Gonzalez targets for vaccine formulations 2:30-2:45 Break Moderator: Dr.Stout 2:45-3:00 Briana Arreaga Synthesis of Nickel Catalysts with N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands 3:00-3:15 Khadija Shafiq Esterification of Alkyl Pyridinium Salts with Carboxylic Acids Development of an Engineered Living Material Capable of Self- 3:15-3:30 Michael Garrett Thermoregulation 3:30-3:45 Robert Daudu Characterization of ISS Microorganisms: Biofilm formation 3:45-4:00 Concluding Remarks by Dr. Adler-Moore 1 Summer Research Work Information Summer Work Summer Presenter’s Summer Research CPP Conducted at Research Last Name Funding Program Department/University Advisor Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Ángel RISE, RISE Grad Moreno Valdés MENTORES/PPOHA Int Biological Sciences /U of Dr. Kevin U of Alabama RISE Grad Breslau Alabama Kocot College of Arts and Int Sciences startup funds Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Bharti RISE RISE UG Inv Alcaraz Sharma Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Jamie RISE RISE UG Inv Ghazarian Snyder Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Bharti RISE RISE UG Int Mkrtchyan Sharma Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Jamie RISE RISE UG Int Manuel Snyder Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Elizabeth RISE RISE UG Inv Martinez Scordato Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Andrea RISE RISE Grad Bonisoli- Int Dant Alquati Agriculture Science/CPP Dr. John C. __ __ Weathers Phillips Env Chemistry and Geology Dr. Penny NSF RISE UG Int Flamenco / U of Connecticut Vlahos Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Francie RISE RISE UG Int Moran Mercer Biological Sciences/CPP Dr. Jill Adler RISE RISE UG Inv Crayton Molecular Microbiology and Dr. Arturo RISE RISE Grad Sandoval Immunology/Johns Hopkins Casadevall Int Infectious diseases/ LA Dr. Ashraf RISE RISE Grad Gonzalez BioMed Ibrahim Int Chemistry & Dr. Chantel RISE RISE UG Inv Arreaga Biochemistry/CPP Stieber Medicinal Chemistry/U of Dr. Timothy NSF RISE UG Inv Shafiq Michigan Cernak Chemical Dr. Mikhail Defense Advanced RISE Grad Engineering/Caltech Shapiro Research Projects Int Garrett Agency Biotechnology and Planetary Dr. Kasthuri RISE RISE Grad Daudu protection/JPL Ventateswaran Int 2 Phylogenetic Systematics of the sea slug genus, Cyerce (Bergh 1871): The Hidden Gems of the Sea Student Author: Karina Moreno, Biological Sciences Department, Cal Poly Pomona Summer and Cal Poly Research Mentor: Dr. Ángel A. Valdés, Biological Sciences Department Program Sponsor: RISE, MENTORES/PPOHA grant The genus Cyerce Bergh 1871 is a group of sea slugs in the family Caliphyllidae, characterized by having bifid rhinophores, enrolled oral tentacles, multiple flattened, leaf-like cerata, and a transverse groove splitting the foot sole of the animal transversally. Cyerce currently includes eleven accepted species distributed throughout tropical and subtropical areas of the Indo-West Pacific, Eastern Pacific, Northern Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean. Species of Cyerce are stenotropic herbivores that possess remarkable adaptations such as aposematic coloration, synthesis of polypropionates, and acquisition of plastids from their algal hosts. The evolution of these traits in Cyerce has not been studied, although observed in other lineages within Sacoglossa. Cladistic analyses have been performed on Sacoglossa, but a species level phylogenetic analysis for the genus Cyerce are lacking. The objective of this study is to produce a monographic review of the genus Cyerce using both molecular and morphological data. In order to resolve the evolutionary relationships among Cyerce species, two mitochondrial genes (CO1, 16S) and nuclear gene (H3) were sequenced from 109 specimens borrowed from museums or collected in the field. Bayesian analyses were used to generate phylogenetic trees. The internal anatomy of the Cyerce specimens was studied to supplement molecular data. This included dissections of the radula and male reproductive anatomy. A species delimitation analysis with ABGD was performed using CO1 aligned sequences to support phylogenetic analyses. Fifteen genetically distinct species of Cyerce were recovered from the analyses with observed differences in size of the buccal mass and radula across species. Key words: Phylogeny, Systematics, Sacoglossa, Caliphyllidae 3 Tuning Tunicates: A Phylogenomic analysis of chordate subphylum Tunicata Student Author: Eric Breslau, Biological Sciences Department, Cal Poly Pomona Summer Research Mentor: Dr. Kevin Kocot, University of Alabama, Biological Sciences Program Sponsor: University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences startup funds Cal Poly Mentor: Dr. Angel Valdes, Biological Sciences Department, Cal Poly Pomona Tunicata (=Urochordata) is an economically and environmentally significant clade consisting of approximately 3000 described species of filter-feeding marine organisms. Interest in this group has grown since the reassessment of the Deuterostome phylogeny placing Tunicata as the closest taxon to vertebrates. This contradicted the traditional acceptance of Cephalochordata as the sister taxon to Vertebrata. Tunicata is divided into three classes based on development and gross morphological features; the pelagic and colonial Thaliaceans, the paedomorphic Appendicularians, and the most speciose of the three, the sessile sea squirts, Ascidiaceans. Ascidiacea consists of three recognized orders differentiated by morphological characteristics of the branchial sac, those being Aplousobranchia, Phlebobranchia, and Stolidobranchia. Early molecular analyses using mtDNA and ribosomal 18S DNA showed support for the paraphyly of Ascidiacea, finding Thaliacea nested within; a finding that was further supported by studies using next generation sequencing. Rejecting traditional Tunicate groupings, researchers have found common ground in support for the new grouping of Aplousobranchia and Phlebobranchia as sister taxa, together forming a clade sister to Thaliacea; however, research efforts have been unable to consistently recover Phlebobranchia. This study collected publicly available transcriptomic data to produce a phylogeny with increased taxon sampling for several groups including Phlebobranchia. An alignment of 893,337 unique amino acid positions was used for the phylogenetic analysis using RAxML. This analysis found further support for the paraphyly of Phlebobranchia. Further likelihood analyses will be done, following this analysis, with a reduced supermatrix using MARE (matrix reduction). Key words: Transcriptome, Tunicata, Urochordata, phylogenomics 4 Understanding the developmental changes and genetic pathways that trigger floral organ abscission in Aquilegia coerulea Student Author: Ana Alcaraz, Biological Sciences Department, Cal Poly Pomona Summer and Cal Poly Research Mentor: Dr. Bharti Sharma, Biological Sciences Department Program Sponsor: RISE While the flowers may be the most visually charismatic aspect of the plants, they are also highly complex. Post maturation, the flowers dehisce through a highly regulated process of organ abscission. Genetic studies of organ abscission of economically important flowering plants are in their infancy. Using Aquilegia coerulea (Columbines) as a model system the proposed project goals are to understand 1) morphological and developmental changes underlying floral organ expansion and maturation, and 2) the genetic basis of organ maturation and identification of genes that can delay the process of organ shedding. We are using histology and scanning electron microscopy