Morgan Montelongo

morganmontelongomail.fresnostate.edu

Beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is a non-proteiogenic amino acid found in cyanobacteria and other organisms. BMAA is also classified as a neurotoxin. It can be incorporated into proteins and cause them to misfold; this may be a key factor in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. Due to BMAA's structure and function, it is a popular amino acid to research. The goal of my project is to determine whether C. briggsae is a suitable system in which to study the neurological effects of BMAA exposure. Specifically, I will initially inquire whether any neurological differences are evident between the nematodes that are exposed to BMAA and those that are not. I hypothesize that the nematodes that have BMAA in their systems will display neurological and behavioral phenotypes.