Major
Molecular Biology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2023
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Burkholderia cenocepacia, a pathogenic bacterium to patients with cystic fibrosis, forms a thick biofilm which aids adherence to the lungs' thickened mucosa. This debilitates patients' ability to breathe effectively, enhancing the risk of chronic illness and mortality. Bacterial populations were established from a single population isolate and experienced approximately 500 generations of evolutionary selection in carbon-limited media for biofilm and planktonic-selected biofilm growth. In the lab, we quantified the amount of biofilm produced by evolved populations of Burkholderia cenocepacia using spectroscopy and calculated the analysis of variance. We found a significant biofilm growth difference between planktonic and biofilm-forming populations.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Caroline Turner, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology; Heather Blasius, Graduate Student, Department of Biology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Quantifying Biofilm Formation in Evolved Planktonic and Biofilm-Forming Populations of Burkholderia cenocepacia in Carbon-Limited Media
Burkholderia cenocepacia, a pathogenic bacterium to patients with cystic fibrosis, forms a thick biofilm which aids adherence to the lungs' thickened mucosa. This debilitates patients' ability to breathe effectively, enhancing the risk of chronic illness and mortality. Bacterial populations were established from a single population isolate and experienced approximately 500 generations of evolutionary selection in carbon-limited media for biofilm and planktonic-selected biofilm growth. In the lab, we quantified the amount of biofilm produced by evolved populations of Burkholderia cenocepacia using spectroscopy and calculated the analysis of variance. We found a significant biofilm growth difference between planktonic and biofilm-forming populations.
Comments
Additional paper can be made available upon request via email to Katherine Jemian.