Chloro..what?? Chlorophyll!!

What a week!!!  It seems like there in never enough time in a day to get everything done, I'm sure each and every one of us can attest to that.  I've been in the dark again this week in the lab, so maybe this week’s post can give you a little insight into why, and not, it’s not because I'm tired!
We go through our day scurrying around and if we're lucky, stuff our face and bellies a few times a day to power us through.  Imagine if all the energy we needed came to us via the warm rays of the sun.  We could go all day and power down in the evening probably not so good if you live in Alaska, but go with me on this.  What would we look like, would we have skin tones in different shades of green, yellow and red like those found in plants??  Leaf pigment content can provide valuable insight into the actual performance and function of photosynthesis and the shades of green can denote the concentration of chlorophyll (green pigment) and carotenoids (yellow pigment).  I have been working for a while on this very question. What is the relationship between the pigment of different (green) vegetables and the chlorophyll content?  My hypothesis is simple, the darker the vegetable leafs, the higher the concentration of chlorophyll.

This experiment is the plant equivalent of DNA extraction.  It’s called TLC (thin layer chromatography) and it is quite interesting.  I started with 4 different types of green leafy vegetables: spinach, turnip greens, red (or rainbow) chard and cabbage.  I weighed each sample and created an individual slurry of each veggie using Acetone and NaOH, which I kept on ice.  As some of you may have noticed, I've been working in the dark, this is because once the chlorophyll has been extracted from its housing (ie. leaf) it becomes very light sensitive and my results can be altered if it is exposed to light.  After a series of vortex and centrifuges, my slushy mixture separates and I'm able to extract the liquid chlorophyll and apply it to my TLC plates. 

I don't want to give it all away so you’re going to have to wait till next week to see the second half of my experiment. :o)

Have a great weekend interns!

My first blog

My first blog

I'd like to start off my first blog by thanking the STEM committee for choosing me to be a part of the program and to Espi...without your help, I'd still be in the dark with this blog business!!

I've heard the old saying "what you don't know won't kill you" too many times without really thinking about it...until now.  I'm talking microbes people, you definitely can't see them with the naked eye but don't be fooled, they're everywhere!!  From door handles to tabletops, mud puddles to pond water, tiny microscopic microbes lay somewhat dormant just waiting for the perfect time, the  right conditions and a food source to flourish.

Take for instance the project that I'm currently working on, it is called "hay infusion".  The idea behind it is that you take any non-chlorinated water source, add some cut grass or hay, wait a few days (to weeks) and you will have a jar filled with trillions of fast moving, flagella swinging, microbes. 

Josh was kind enough to get a few bottles full of water from a pond at Papago Park and a Fry's grocery bag, half filled with hay.  With my protocol in hand, I set out to discover the creepy world of microbiology.

Day 0 -

I filled my jar with pond water, cut up my hay and placed it in the jar.  I knew that today, day zero would be pretty uneventful under the microscope but I prepared my slides.  Taking a sample from the bottom, the middle and the top, I was able to observe a few pieces of hay up close and a really cool air bubble.  I lightly recapped my jar and placed it in a room temperature incubator for exactly four days (MLK holiday weekend!!)

Day 4-



The pungent odor coming from my experiment was ripe with possibilities!  Four days had gone by and I was sure that the micro world was budding inside my jar.  I made my three slides, one from the top, one from the middle and one from the bottom.  Judging from what I saw, as soon as I saw my jar, I knew the majority of microbes would be hanging out in the yellowing, greenish sludge that had settled at the bottom…food frenzy!  I was right, the sample from the top was barely worthy of mention but as I went closer to the food source, I found a plethora of microbes, some congregating in vibrating piles and some swimming so fast past my view, I was thinking that I needed the corn syrup to slow them down!



Day 5-
Short day today, so I added some fresh pond water and hay to my jar.....then scrubbed and cleaned the Micro lab!!!