Brandee L Stone

My current research Interests

As an undergraduate I began working with Dr. Andrea White on reduced phosphorus oxidizing bacteria in the environment, specifically Klamath Lake, Oregon. Our goal is to add to the knowledge regarding phosphorus cycling in the environment. Phosphorus is a vital compound used in metabolism pathways and essential biomolecules such as phospholipids and nucleic acids. It is, however, also quite scarce in the environment. Bacteria have developed strategies for coping with this scarcity. Many have a regulatory system induced specifically under low phosphate [i.e., phosphate starvation conditions] to aid the bacterium in acquiring and assimilating phosphate from the environment... the pho regulon. It is generally thought that phosphate cannot undergo biologically mediated redox reactions. Thus, the only source of biologically useful phosphate comes from inorganic phosphate and phosphate esters. Recent discoveries call this model into question. We have been able to isolate several bacteria capable of using the reduced phosphorus compounds hypophosphite, phosphite, and aminoethylphosphonate as their sole source of phosphate. These isolates indicate phosphate can undergo biologically mediated redox reactions.

My current projects

We are currently finishing the Klamath Lake project. We have preliminarily identified nine hypophosphite, phosphite, and aminoethylphosphoate oxidizers to the genus level. We are in the process of identifying all of our isoaltes down to the species level. In addition, we are attempting to identify the genes and pathways responsible for reduced phosphorus oxidation in our isolates.

We are also investigating possible differences in the pho regulon. The pho regulon has been well-characterized in Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and several yeast species but the literature remains at best sparse for the pho regulon in other species. Is this because researchers have investigated several other species and found they have pho regulons like those of E. coli or B. subtilis or is it because researchers have investigated a handful of other species, found they are like E. coli or B. subtilis and stopped looking? With a recent discovery by Marc M. S. M. Wösten et. al. [2006] in Camplylobacter jejuni we have good reason to believe it is the latter and there will be more differences found in other species of bacteria.

Awards

2007-2008
    Outstanding Student in Microbiology
    ASM Corporate Activities Program Student Travel Grant
    CSUPERB Travel Grant
    Best in Category - Upper Division Class Project Poster [Biological Sciences Student Research Symposium]

Events

Presented Research
    2007
        May
         10^th Annual Biological Sciences Student Research Symposium [CSUC]
    2008
        January
           California State University Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology [CSUPERB]
        April
           4^th Annual Natural Sciences Poster Session [CSUC]
       May
          11^th Annual Biological Sciences Student Research Symposium
       June
          108^th American Society for Microbiology General Meeting [Boston]

Education

B.S. General Microbiology, California State University, Chico - 2007
B.A. Psychology, California State University, Chico - 2007
A.S. Biology, Bakersfield College - 2003
A.A. Psychology, Bakersfield College - 2003

Courses taught

Spring 2008
NSCI 102 - Introduction to Living Systems

Fall 2007
Biology 101 - Concepts in Biology
Biology 102 - Concepts in Biology