Four Limestone College biology majors recently presented the results of their undergraduate research projects at the annual South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) Student/Faculty Undergraduate Research Symposium at the BMW Zentrum Center in Greer.

Samantha Rape, a sophomore from Blacksburg working under Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Suzanne Lindley, presented the results of her project that focused on cell chemotaxis, which is the movement of cells toward chemical attractants. Rape examined how cells called lymphocytes and monocytes, both of which function in human immunity, may migrate toward a chemical signal produced by a pathogen, in this case a protein abbreviated SPA produced by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus. Rape found that even low concentrations of SPA were not strong enough to cause cell migration and a subsequent immune response, which suggests that another mechanism is responsible for the highly pathogenic nature of Staph. aureus.

Sophomores Ricky Brannon (Cowpens) and Kristen Smith (Blacksburg) and senior Miranda Dornis (Greer), working under Biology Instructor Kerry Heafner, presented the results of their project which focused on plants called quillworts that belong to the genus Isoetes (pronounced Eye-so-eat-eez). Building on a genetic data set that Heafner and a colleague published in 2005, Brannon, Smith, and Dornis used leaf and sporangium characteristics to differentiate three populations in Alabama and North Carolina, thus naming three species new to science. They will submit the findings of their research for publication to the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society later in the year and will present their research again on April 17th at the 69th annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists in Spartanburg.

Both projects were funded by SCICU, a non-profit organization that promotes the cause of independent higher education in South Carolina. Today, SCICU comprises twenty private institutions located throughout the state that serve the needs of more than 32,500 students.