Microbiology Commons^™

Investigation Of Origin And Growth Of Fungi In Coastal Beach Sand, Ruth L. Wright

Honors Theses

In a previous study from this lab (Stevens, Evans, & Aguirre, 2012) yeast colonies were isolated and grown grown from sand collection at pristine, medium use and high use beaches along the grand strand. In that study greater yeast abundance and greater diversity both correlated with higher census of human use, suggesting that some yeast growth of sites was anthropogenic. However the sand matrix itself also varied from very fine, uniform, dark sand at the pristine beach to coarser, color varying, less tightly packed sand at residential and commercial beaches. This suggested an alternative hypothesis to differential colonization and growth …

Diverse Microbial Communities Hosted By The Model Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Sarracenia Purpurea: Analysis Of Both Bacterial And Eukaryotic Composition Across Distinct Host Plant Populations, Jacob J. Grothjan, Erica B. Young

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Background. The pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea supplements nutrient acquisition through carnivory, capturing insect prey which are digested by a food web community of eukaryotes and bacteria. While the food web invertebrates are well studied, and some recent studies have characterized bacteria, detailed genetic analysis of eukaryotic diversity is lacking. This study aimed to compare eukaryotic and bacterial composition and diversity of pitcher communities within and between populations of host plants in nearby but distinct wetland habitats, and to characterize microbial functions across populations and in comparison with another freshwater community.

Methods. Pitcher fluid was sampled from the two …