Tyler graduated from Saline High School in Saline, Michigan. He has been an active leader at Anchorhouse Christian Fellowship. He completed his senior research on the use of microreactors to produce pharmaceutical precursors. He was the recipient of a GRO Fellowship for Undergraduates sponsored by the EPA. Tyler completed a summer working in Cinncinati for the EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory, and spent a summer in San Francisco with the American Chemical Society's Nuclear Summer School. Tyler will be pursuing his PhD at Washington State University in the Fall.
"I can't tell you how much the chemistry faculty has helped me during the last couple of years. Tremendously is the word that comes to mind."
--David Beckman
Pre-pharmacy Graduate,
Attending Pharmacy School at Ferris State University
"I have especially enjoyed seeing undergraduates get involved in fairly high-powered research projects. Many of these projects are better than a typically masters thesis. For example, a former student of mine presented his data at a national meeting and was awarded the top student presentation. He was competing against numerous masters and graduate students at that meeting. LSSU's small size allows professors to work directly with motivated students and the faculty are truly interested in student success."
--Marshall Werner, Ph.D
Associate Professor
Character- ization of Yellow Pigments in Freshwater Flavo- bacteria
Ashley Ryckman
The yellow color of Flavobacteria is due to the presence of carotenoids and flexirubin-type pigments. These complex chemical structures have shown to produce antioxidant properties, as well as antibacterial activity. The KOH test and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to characterize carotenoid and flexirubin pigment production in three strains of Flavorbacteria: FR 87, FR Y, and FR 93. Optimization of pigment and separation was performed by quant-prep HPLC. Separation of four pigment fractions from each strain was attained using semi-prep HPLC. Antibacterial activity of the pigment fractions was tested using a MTT Assay. Fexirubin biosynthesis genes, darA and darB, of related pigment producing Flavobacteria were used to compare flexirubin pigments in FR 87. The three strains were determined to produce the carotenoid, Zeaxanthin. FR 87 produced 13 flexirubin pigments, FR Y produced 14 flexirubin pigments and FR 93 produced 20 flexirubin-type pigments. It was determined that compounds in all three strains demonstrated antibacterial activity. The flexirubin biosynthesis gene, darA, is 89.9% similar to Flavobacterium johnsoniae, and 73.2% similar to Flavobacterium psychrophilum.
