Teaching laboratories for undergraduate science students typically consist of simple experiments with pre-determined outcomes. Although these exercises can teach basic laboratory skills, they do not introduce students to the challenging and unscripted nature of authentic scientific research. At the University of Auckland we are developing a new discovery-based laboratory course in which students will study the replication machinery of Wobbly Possum Disease Virus (WPDV). In this course, the basic experimental procedures to be performed remain quite defined, similar to the highly successful Phage discovery program developed at the University of Pittsburgh. [1]

WPDV was discovered in 1995 and is found amongst possums in New Zealand and Australia. WPDV infection causes animals to become disorientated and uncoordinated, and is usually lethal. Molecular understanding of this nidovirus is limited, especially with regard to its mechanism of transcription and replication. The proteins that are essential for these activities are found in the open reading frames (ORFs) 1a and 1b of the WPDV genome. These ORFs encode polyproteins that contain all the elements of the replication complex. [2]

In our newly created undergraduate teaching laboratory, students will identify structural domains embedded with ORF1b of WPDV using a cell-based screening technique. This “domain seeking” allows in vivo testing of a random protein fragment library for solubility and stability. [3] Students will carry out bioinformatic analysis of the soluble fragments that they identify as well as analyze the combined class data. This undergraduate exercise should advance our understanding of the domain architecture of the WPDV replication complex. The students will encounter the techniques and concepts embedded in a traditional laboratory course in a more meaningful context. This will hopefully increase their engagement with the laboratory course, and give them a more nuanced and realistic view of the scientific process.