Microbiology Commons^™

A Novel Approach For Characterizing The Ultra-Micro Size-Fraction Community, Abdullah Ahmed Salim, Priscilla Nicole Pineda, Isabella Alamilla, Andrew Dean Putt

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

A Novel Approach for Characterizing the Ultra-Micro Size-Fraction Community

Students: Abdullah Salim, Priscilla Pineda, Isabella Alamilla

Mentors/Supervisors: Andrew Putt, Terry C. Hazen

ABSTRACT

The ultra-micro size-fraction (UMSF) are bacteria that can pass through the 0.2 µm pore membrane filters employed in environmental surveys. Despite being ubiquitous and having high metabolic activity, UMSF remain elusive and largely uncultured. Investigations of UMSF are skewed by difficulties in culturing and a lack of techniques for measuring UMSF biogeochemical signatures. This study measures surface stream UMSF community diversity, and community response to the addition of the synthetic pharmaceutical and cosmetic carbon product cyclodextrin which …

The Full Genome Sequence Of An Antarctic Microbe Constructed Using A Rapid, Portable Sequencer And A Hybrid Assembly, Bruce Wyatt Boles

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Microbial genomes contain combinations of nucleotides that code for genes which subsequently determines the function of the cell. This information provides significant insight into the unique niche of microbes from extreme environments. Here we use two sequencing technologies, the Oxford Nanopore MinION with accompanying software and Illumina HiSeq, to generate a hybrid genome for a Shewanella strain isolated from an Antarctic glacier. Bioinformatic programs, Albacore and SPAdes, allowed us to decrease the time of genome assembly while also obtaining a large quantity of information related to the Shewanella sp. Our combined approach yielded a high quality genome assembly 5.3 …

What’S For Dinner? Different Carbon Compounds Influence Host Metabolism In A Model Roseobacter-Roseophage System, Kaylee Rae Jacobs

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Viruses that infect bacteria (temperate phages) engage in complex interactions with their hosts. These phages can have two life cycles: lytic and lysogenic. For the latter, the phage can integrate its genome into that of its host and harmlessly replicate alongside with it. Conversely, upon induction, these integrated viruses can excise from their host genome and initiate the lytic cycle. A current paradigm is that phage induction is in response to host cell stress. However, in the absence of stressors, a low level of induction in a population occurs. This poorly understood phenomenon is referred to as spontaneous prophage induction …

Microbe Hunters: Searching For Anammox Bacteria In The Tennessee Aquarium, Claire Elbon

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Ammonium and nitrite are toxic metabolic waste products generated by aquatic macroorganisms. They are of particular concern in closed systems, such as commercial aquaria. Typically, biological filtration systems are employed to regulate levels of toxic N species as they are more cost-efficient compared to water removal and replacement. Microbial communities that reside in these systems play vital roles in transformation of toxic N species. Commonly, nitrite and ammonium are converted into nitrate via nitrification. However, even nitrate is toxic at higher concentrations. Bacteria belonging to the phylum Planctomycetes can transform ammonium and nitrite to N2 via anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). …

Ultramicrobacteria Genome Database Project, Abdullah A. Salim, Tien Tran, Andrew Putt, Terry C. Hazen

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Ultramicrobacteria (UMB) are a largely uncultured, globally abundant, and metabolically active group of bacteria. UMB have cell diameters ≤0.3μm, cell volumes ≤0.1 μm3, and small streamlined genomes. Recent findings indicate that UMB aid in bioremediation and nutrient cycling, but future investigations and comprehension of current findings are skewed by highly variable nomenclature and a lack of databases for functional, genomic, geochemical, or spatial data specific to candidate UMB. We aim to develop a user-friendly open-access database of various UMB candidates linked to an open-access online map where researchers can gather genomic, spatial, and geochemical data. Our comprehensive review of literature …

Improving The Analysis Of T Cell Movement, Viktor Zenkov

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Vaccine-induced T cells play an important role in combating malaria by eliminating infection in the liver stage. However, as millions of hepatocytes inhabit a mouse liver and only some are infected, how T cells locate the infection site and eliminate infection remains poorly understood. Are T cells moving intentionally toward parasites, or randomly successful? To answer this, I used timed position data of malaria-specific T cells, non-specific control T cells, and a parasite, obtained from experiments in a mouse liver; I performed analyses with the null hypothesis that T cells move randomly. I used two metrics, based on distances from …

Synechococcus As An Hooh-Consuming Helper For Prochlorococcus, Abigail Mcgettigan Jarratt

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

The marine cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is an abundant and globally important microbe that contributes an estimated 40% of bacterial production in the oligotrophic ocean. The success of this photosynthetic bacterium is largely a consequence of its small cell size and streamlined genome, which are advantageous in nutrient-limited environments. However, this genomic streamlining has also led to the loss of the gene (katG) encoding catalase, an enzyme that is essential for the degradation and detoxification of the reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide (HOOH). HOOH is naturally present in the illuminated waters of the ocean, and in the absence of catalase, Prochlorococcus is …

Determining If Host Serum Igg Titer Is Associated With Toxoplasma Gondii Virulence, Riley E Byrd

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that causes the disease toxoplasmosis in animals and humans. One third of the world’s human population is chronically infected with this parasite (1). Toxoplasma gondii has two infectious forms: oocysts shed in the feces of felids (domestic and wild cats) and tissue cysts in chronically infected animals (Figure 1). Humans may become infected via ingestion of food or water contaminated with oocysts, the consumption of tissue cysts in undercooked meats, or vertical transmission from the mother to the fetus. Previous studies have found that T. gondii strains from South America are genetically diverse from …

Interactions And Growth Dynamics Of Prochlorococcus, Rhodospirilaceae, And Alteromonas In A Coculture Environment, Vasily Giovanni Carniello

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Interactions between different species of microorganisms have a significant role in the growth dynamics within the environment. (Morris 08) The specifics mechanisms of these interactions, however, are overall poorly understood. The purpose of this study is to study the interactions between the heterotrophs Rhodospirilaceae (EZ54), and Alteromonas (EZ55) and the cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus (Vol 1). Here we establish the effects the cyanobacterium has on the growth dynamics of each of the heterotrophs as well as the effect the two heterotrophs have on one another.

Quantatative Analysis Of Microbial Abundance Within Arctic Fjord Sediments Assessed Through Direct Counting, Alex Taylor Swystun

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Microbes found in the marine sediments are responsible for the production of nearly half of the carbon dioxide found in the atmosphere (Arrigo, 2005). The fjords of Svalbard (79°N) are not considered typical marine sediments because high iron content influences unique subsurface redox chemistry. Radiotracer studies have shown that these sediments contain active bacterial sulfate-reducing communities (Finke et al., 2016). In addition to bacteria, archaeal cells within these sediments have been in aggregates encompassed by sulfate-reducing bacteria (Ravenschlag et al., 2001). These anaerobic organisms participate in mediating environmental biogeochemical cycles, including the oxidation of methane (Ravenschlag et al., 2001) and …

Evidence For The Priming Effect In Single Strain And Simplified Communities Of Estuarine Bacteria, Abigail Amina Edwards

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Through their transformation of naturally occurring organic matter, coastal marine bacteria play an essential role in carbon cycling. A phenomenon termed the priming effect (PE) occurs when microbial communities remineralize recalcitrant organic matter faster in the presence of labile organic matter and may be prevalent in coastal systems. To understand how microbial community members interact to induce PE, it is essential to first understand the mechanisms underlying PE in single strains and simplified bacterial communities. The effect to which different concentrations and sources of labile carbon stimulated the production of bacterial biomass from riverine organic matter by two marine bacteria …

Quantitative Depth Profile Of Prochlorococcus In The Pacific Ocean, Benjamin Carter Calfee

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

Prochlorococcus is a genus of extremely abundant marine cyanobacterium. This microbe is responsible for the majority of the primary production within marine environments and is thought to be the single most abundant photosynthetic organism. In addition to accounting for such a large portion of the world’s photosynthetic activity, Prochlorococcus functions with a genome much smaller than most other primary producers. Thus due to its general abundance and overall importance in oceanic ecosystems, an experiment was prompted to derive the spatial and numerical separation of the members of this genus across the Pacific Ocean through the use of quantitative polymerase chain …

Comparison Of Bacterial Communities Associated Spider Species Occupying Different Physical Environments, Jack Kang

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

No abstract provided.

Novobiocin As An Allosteric Modulator Of Ste2p, Jeffrey K. Rymer, Melinda Hauser, Jeffrey M. Becker

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the target of 30-50% of all prescribed drugs for human medicine and are therefore the subject of intense study by the scientific community. It has been recognized recently that compounds called allosteric modulators can regulate GPCR activity by binding a GPCR at sites not occupied by the normal receptor-activating molecule. Such allosteric compounds are desirable drug candidates as they may produce fewer toxic side-effects than standard drugs that target GPCRs. The purpose of this study was to determine the interaction of different allosteric modulators with Ste2p, a model GPCR expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. …