“Unraveling the Power of Protist-Bacterial Partnerships: Novel Auxin Dynamics in the Rhizosphere” Monday, April 14, 1:00 PM, Carl Hansen Student Center SC 119

 Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society

Seminar Series presents

Dr. Ravikumar Patel, Agricultural Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

“Unraveling the Power of Protist-Bacterial Partnerships: Novel Auxin Dynamics in the Rhizosphere”

Monday, April 14, 1:00 PM, Carl Hansen Student Center SC 119

Protists play a crucial role in shaping rhizosphere microbial communities, often forming symbiotic associations with bacteria enriched for plant-beneficial traits. Using metagenomic sequencing, we identified 61 unique bacterial genomes from maize rhizosphere protists, 70% of which contained phytohormone synthesis genes. We validated the gene annotation predictions by lab testing and found that auxin is the most prevalent trait.  We next asked if protists would respond to exogenously supplemented auxin. Auxin supplementation significantly enhanced protist growth, prompting transcriptomic analysis in Colpoda, which revealed over 1,700 differentially expressed genes linked to auxin signaling and cell cycle regulation. Our findings reveal a diverse array of heterotrophic rhizosphere protists associated with auxin-producing bacteria, exhibiting auxin-dependent growth phenotypes and gene expression. This is the first evidence of auxin-dependent growth in heterotrophic single eukaryotes. These findings highlight auxin's pivotal role in mediating tripartite interactions among plants, bacteria, and protists in the rhizosphere.

Dr. Ravikumar Patel is a postdoctoral research scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, where he devotes his expertise to unraveling the complex interactions between single-cell eukaryotes, bacteria, and plants. With over a decade of research experience in microbiology, molecular biology, plant biology, and analytical chemistry, Dr. Patel specializes in the investigation of plant-associated microbes. His postgraduate work includes the identification of the mechanism of interaction between rhizosphere protists and bacteria and the molecular basis of bacterial pathogen survival against different control treatments. Dr. Patel received his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Sardar Patel University. Throughout his career, he has published extensively, contributed to multiple prestigious journals, and been recognized with various awards.

“Functions of the microRNA miR-71 in Models of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease” Tuesday, March 25, 12:30 PM, Buckman Theater

  Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society

Seminar Series presents

Alexandre de Lencastre, Professor of Biology

“Functions of the microRNA miR-71 in Models of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease”

Tuesday, March 25, 12:30 PM, Buckman Theater

The class of small non-coding RNAs termed microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of gene expression across metazoans. Altered expression of miRNAs have now been associated with a variety of aging-associated diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease. The de Lencastre Lab has identified several miRNAs with altered expression during aging in C. elegans. One of these aging-associated miRNAs – miR-71 – is neuronally expressed, promotes longevity in the worm and is protective in multiple models of neurodegeneration in C. elegans. Recent findings have identified conserved molecular targets of miR-71 that mediate its protective effects on longevity and in proteostasis.

Dr. Alexandre de Lencastre earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University, completed his post-doctoral training at Yale University, and is currently a Professor of Biology at Quinnipiac University, where he also directs the Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) Master's Program. Dr. de Lencastre is also a co-chair of the Quinnipiac University Interdisciplinary Program for Research and Scholarship (QUIP-RS) which awards fellowships to undergraduates for mentored summer scholarship. His lab’s research focuses on genetics, aging, and non-coding RNAs, with significant contributions to the understanding of microRNA expression during aging and their roles in neurodegenerative diseases.

14th Annual QU Sigma Xi Conference (2025) Abstract submission deadline Thursday April 17th (11pm)

14th Annual QU Sigma Xi Conference (2025) Wednesday April 23rd  

Submit abstract HERE  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SigmaXiQU2025. 

• Abstract submission deadline Thursday April 17th (11pm)

• View the previous 2024 abstract booklet here: https://tinyurl.com/SigmaXiQU2024

• View the 2025 abstract booklet here: https://tinyurl.com/SigmaXiQU2025 to be added later

Posters are 4' long by 3' high. 

You can either have your posted printed or print your poster sheets:

Print the poster as a  large document (Staples or Kinkos Fedex North Haven) and clip it (clips provided) to the trifold

• template1

• template2

OR  Print 8.5x11 inch sheets, bring thumb tacks (come early & tack the sheets to your board)

Poster Hours: 3:00-5:00 pm 

• Students present posters with public attendance (students will be at their poster either 3:00-4:00 or 4:00-5:00, they can visit other posters during the other hour) 

• TBD # posters

• View the abstracts here: https://tinyurl.com/SigmaXiQU2025 (live on 4/22)

• Poster Session 3:00 – 5:00 PM on Burt Kahn Court in the Recreation and Wellness Center (students assigned first or second hour to attend to their poster).  To help out judging, contact Neil Schultes (Neil.Schultes@ct.gov) or me (james.kirby@quinnipiac.edu).

Distinguished Speaker: 5:15pm, followed by Student Awards 

• Sigma Xi Speaker:  5:15 PM also on Burt Kahn Court: 

• Dr. Marcia Bartusiak will present "Edwin Hubble Discovers the Modern Universe, 1923-24: A Centennial Celebration" 

• Dr. Marcia Bartusiak's website: www.marciabartusiak.com 

• Combining her skills as a journalist with an advanced degree in physics, Marcia Bartusiak (pronounced Mar-sha Bar-too'-shack) has been covering the fields of astronomy and physics for four decades. The author of seven books, she is Professor of the Practice Emeritus in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her latest books are Dispatches from Planet 3, an essay collection for the armchair astronomer, a revised edition of Einstein's Unfinished Symphony, her award-winning history of gravitational-wave astronomy and its first detections, and Black Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawking Became Loved. 

• Bartusiak is also the author of Thursday's Universe, a layman's guide to the frontiers of astrophysics and cosmology, and Through a Universe Darkly, a history of astronomers' centuries-long quest to discover the universe's composition. Both were named notable science books by The New York Times. More recently published are The Day We Found the Universe, a narrative saga of the birth of modern cosmology and the 2010 winner of the History of Science Society's Davis Prize, and Archives of the Universe, a history of the major discoveries in astronomy told through 100 of the original scientific publications. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has won the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Prize three times, and also received the AIP's prestigious Gemant Award for "significant contributions to the cultural, artistic, or humanistic dimension of physics."

• Graduating in 1971 with a degree in communications from American University in Washington, D.C., Bartusiak first spent four years as a TV reporter and anchorwoman in Norfolk, Virginia. Assignments at the nearby NASA Langley Research Center sparked a love for science news, which encouraged her to enter Old Dominion University for a master's degree in physics. Her research involved the effects of radiation on optical materials sent into space as parts of orbiting astronomical observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Ultraviolet Explorer. 

• Starting her science-writing career as an intern at Science News and then as a charter member of Discover's writing staff, she continues to write about astronomy and physics in a variety of national publications. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Astronomy, Science, Popular Science, Sky & Telescope, World Book Encyclopedia, Smithsonian, and Technology Review. For many years a contributing editor at Discover, she is now on the editorial advisory board of Astronomy magazine. She also reviews science books for The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Bartusiak lives with her husband, mathematician Steve Lowe, in Sudbury, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.  

“Functions of the microRNA miR-71 in Models of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease” Tuesday, March 25, 12:30 PM, Buckman Theater

 Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society

Seminar Series presents

Alexandre de Lencastre, Professor of Biology

“Functions of the microRNA miR-71 in Models of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease”

Tuesday, March 25, 12:30 PM, Buckman Theater

The class of small non-coding RNAs termed microRNAs (miRNAs) have emerged as important regulators of gene expression across metazoans. Altered expression of miRNAs have now been associated with a variety of aging-associated diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s Disease. The de Lencastre Lab has identified several miRNAs with altered expression during aging in C. elegans. One of these aging-associated miRNAs – miR-71 – is neuronally expressed, promotes longevity in the worm and is protective in multiple models of neurodegeneration in C. elegans. Recent findings have identified conserved molecular targets of miR-71 that mediate its protective effects on longevity and in proteostasis.

Dr. Alexandre de Lencastre earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University, completed his post-doctoral training at Yale University, and is currently a Professor of Biology at Quinnipiac University, where he also directs the Molecular and Cell Biology (MCB) Master's Program. Dr. de Lencastre is also a co-chair of the Quinnipiac University Interdisciplinary Program for Research and Scholarship (QUIP-RS) which awards fellowships to undergraduates for mentored summer scholarship. His lab’s research focuses on genetics, aging, and non-coding RNAs, with significant contributions to the understanding of microRNA expression during aging and their roles in neurodegenerative diseases.