College of Albemarle students with their cultures. With Mrs.H and their Professor, Dr. Buabeng

Sterilizing African violet leaves

Cutting and plating leaf explants

Potato nodal and microtuber formation

Horticulture students of COA #ECSU. They placed African violet 🪴 leaves into sterile plant tissue culture for new shoots🧪🧫🌱. Also did potato micropropagation 🟣🥔. Will take cultures back to their lab and collect data. Thanks to Mrs. H for media prep. #ECSUVikingsScience #collab #plantscience

Undergrads in General Botany doing a CURE (course-based undergrad research experience)

Doing plant tissue culture

Cutting seedling leaf explants of corn

All undergrads cut two plates each

CURE set up in General Botany #ECSU. #undergradsinthelab are testing the effects of an amino acid and sugars on somatic embryogenesis in corn 🌽 seedling leaves 🧫. A chance for them to be part of a research project funded by NSF. Data will be taken for 1 month. #plants #ECSUVikingsScience

Macromolecules tests in General Botany. Tested for sugars, lipids and proteins. Had controls plus an unknown solution

I assign the lab groups. Undergrad Ainya is been trained to prep the labs by Mrs. Henderson

Making LBagar before autoclaving in Molecuar Biology. Adding activated charcoal to one flask for #agarart

Labs have started this semester👍🏼. Did the colorful 🎨 macromolecules tests in General Botany. Learning to follow protocols plus leadership skills. Made LBagar in Molecular Biology (advanced) for upcoming expts🦠🧫🧬. Added activated charcoal ⚫️ so chromoproteins can pop 🟢🔵🟣. #ECSUVikingsScience

Plant Lab Group at ECSU

Lab meeting where undegrads present their research

Cupcake Thursday where we celebrate birthdays etc.

Happy Winter 2025/26 #ECSUVikingsScience. We welcomed Thea 👍🏼 and said goodbye to Ashna and Carmen😥. Our research on corn tissue culture🌽🧫 and transformation🧬🦠🧪 continues (watchful eyes 👀of Mrs. H). Lab meetings are a great way to improve oral presentations 🗣💻. Promise more time for fun🧁🎵. #plants

Thea ready to pour plant tissue culture medium

Thea and Lab Tech Jacqueline

Thea conducting corn tissue culture

Thea completing first PCR

The Lab welcomes 👍🏼#undergrad Thea J. #ECSU. She is part of our corn 🌽 NSF grant. We are improving regeneration from seedling tissues and introducing morphogenic factors using Agrobacterium🧬🧫🦠🌱. Thea is supervised by Lab Tech Jacqueline and peer mentored by Nicole. #ECSUVikingsScience #plant

Undergrads Carmen S. and Ainya F. (part-time greenhouse lab techs). Did everything including research on medicinal properties

Medicinal plants in greenhouse

Also growing course and research plants for seed collection

Praying Mantis in greenhouse

Restarted the Medicinal Plant of the Month display in the lobby of Jenkins Science Center #ECSU. Thanks 👍🏼👍🏼to undergrads Carmen and Ainya (GH lab techs 💻⚕️💊), and ECSU for the repairs🔨. Our trusty praying mantis is on guard (IPM 🐞🐛. #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcu #plants

Experiment on seed germination (fresh vs dry wts; seeds germinated for a week so data collection at unscheduled times)

Light vs chlorophyll on starch production; setting up respirometers with germinating vs dry seeds; histology of plant organs

Plants and results

Completed the classical plant experiments in General Botany #ECSU. Undergrads collected data on fresh/dry wt. ⚖️ of seeds 🌰 for a week; histology🔬 of plant organs; light ☀️vs chlorophyll on photosynthesis ⚗️🧪🌱; respiration (germinating vs dry seeds 🌰). #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcuexcellence

Undergrads loading their first vertical gels. Whatever method it takes 👍🏼. Looked at effects of 2 denaturation times on fish proteins

Undergrads making own dilutions of sucrose and salt

Results on effects of different sucrose and salt solutions on plasmolysis in red onion epidermal cells

Loading vertical protein gels 👍🏼👍🏼 #ECSU. Undergrads in Molecular Biology looked at fish 🐟 proteins (Edvotek). All the ohs and ahs 🙄😃 when General Botany undergrads see their first plasmolysed epidermal cells (red onion 🔴🌰 in different conc. of sucrose🍬 and salt🧂). #ECSUVikingsScience

Undergrads in General Botany

Testing for macromolecules under watchful eyes of TA (seniors Carmen and Ashna: bottom pic)

Making LB media in Molecular Biology

LB media w/o activated charcoal. Final results of macromolecules tests.

Expts. have started in earnest #ECSU. Macromolecules tests ⚗️🧪🎨 with control (water) and unknown sol'n (General Botany); and making LB media 🧫 (Molecular Biology). Added some activated charcoal ⚫️ for #agarart 🔴🔵🟣🟢. Idea 💡 from @atinygreencell.bsky.social. #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcuexcellence

Undergrads in BIOL 499: Biological Research, in front of the oak tree, by the Library, on the campus of #ECSU

This oak tree has been sequenced. They will annotate the chloroplast and possibly mitochondrial/nuclear genomes

Our project on the oak 🌰 tree 🌳 by the Library continues #ECSU. Biological Research undergrads will be annotating the chloroplast genome. Part of the ACTG project of Dr. Alex Harkess (HudsonAlpha Inst.). Last fall, we sequenced HMW DNA 🌱🧪🧬 (excellent quality 👌). #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcu

Ainya and Carmen in renovated greenhouse

Re- started plant collections in the greenhouse

Extrakta sage. Students took pictures of every plant

Hyssop. Maintaining data on germination rate, days to flowering, and seed set

Our Greenhouse is back 🙌. Thanks to #ECSU for all the renovations 💐. We have re-started our plant collections 🪴. Thanks 👍🏼👍🏼 to undergrads, Ainya and Carmen for planting, etc 🌸🌼🌻🌺. Will bring back the Medicinal Plant of the Month in the lobby. #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcu #plants

Horticulture students from the local Community College (Albemarle) with their Professor, Dr. Buabeng.

Placing African violet leaves into tissue culture. Under the watchful eyes of Lab Tech, Mrs. Henderson

Cutting sterile leaves of African violet

Placing potato into media for microtuber formation. Dr. Buabeng also did some cultures.

The Lab welcomed Horticulture students from COA (annual event now) #ECSU. They placed their African violet 🪴 into sterile 🧫 culture (leaf 🍃 explants). They also started purple 🟣 potato 🥔 microtuber formation. They will observe in their lab (will visit a few weeks later). #ECSUVikingsScience

Mrs. Jacqueline H. back in the lab

Welcome, Mrs. Jacqueline H. #ECSU. She will be the Lab Tech on the new NSF grant (factors affecting maize 🌽 regeneration 🧬🧪🧫, etc.). Jacqueline was a part-time lab tech and an #undergradresearcher. Great to have her back in the lab 👍🏼👍🏼. #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcu

Undergrads in the Plant Genetics and Molecular Biology Teaching and Research Lab.

Montly lab meeting and Cupcake 🧁 Thursday.

Middle and high school students from the Biotech Club.

Happy Fall 2024 #ECSU. Some undergrads said hello, stayed awhile, and a few goodbye 😭. Projects in PTC and transformation started, continued, and some completed 🧬🧪🧫🍃🪴🌽. We welcomed undergrads from BIOL 499. Ended the term with students from the local Biotech Club. #ECSUVikingsScience #plant

Dr. Young, part of collaborative grant that will study morphogenic factors on maize regeneration

Thanks to NSF for this opportunity #ECSU. Looking forward to working with Andrea G. @rutgersuniversity.bsky.social, @bas-bargmann.bsky.social, and Dave J. @cshlaboratory.bsky.social 🧬🧪🧫🌽👍🏼👍🏼. #ECSUVikingsScience

www.ecsu.edu/news/nsfgran...

Juelle defending her Undergrad Thesis.

Thanks to the Thesis Committee for the reviews and the great questions.

Juelle will be missed 😭. Has been in the lab since her first semester. Applying to grad school.

Job well done 💐 @jrtkstclair.bsky.social #ECSU. Defended her Undergrad Senior Honors Thesis 👏👏(+maintaining a great GPA + graduating 🎓 a semester early). Will be missed 😢. Agro 🧬✋️🧫 transformation of tobacco 🍃 with RUBYRED plasmid 🔴🪴 @atinygreencell.bsky.social. #ECSUVikingsScience

Collecting young oak leaves near the library, by any means, lol

Extracting oak DNA

High Molecular Weight oak DNA

PCR using a rapid DNA extraction kit. Not the best results (science). Will try again

This semester, undergrads in BIOL 499 #ECSU are part of the American Campus Tree 🌳 Genomes Project (Dr. Alex Harkess at Hudsonalpha, AL). They are sequencing an oak 🌰 tree. Just sent off the HMW DNA 🧬 to be sequenced. They will then learn to annotate. #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcu #PlantScience

Tobacco 'benthi' in culture.

Nodal cultures of plants

Started 2024 with nodal cultures (clonal propagation). Part of the maintenance in a plant tissue culture lab #ECSU. Clones of tobacco, tomato, potato, Venus Flytrap, etc. 🍅🥔🌿🧫🪴. Thanks to #undergrad Juelle 👏👏 for placing seeds of tobacco 'benthi' into sterile culture. #ECSUVikingsScience #hbcu