Investigating Strain Level Diversity Among Natural Co-Isolated Vibrio Fischeri
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Harter, Rachel
- Area of Honors:
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Timothy Iwao Miyashiro, Thesis Supervisor
Wendy Hanna-Rose, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- transformation
bacteria
strain diversity
genomic
genetic
vibrio fischeri
symbiosis
mutualism
euprymna scolopes
microbiology
molecular biology
biochemistry
quorum sensing - Abstract:
- Transformation is the process of a cell incorporating exogenous DNA into its genome, with transformation efficiency referring to the frequency of transformants out of total viable cells. Transformation efficiency is important because it indicates the adaptability of a cellular population. Transformation efficiencies vary by bacterial species and plasmid, with some difficulty in implementing a consistently successful species-wide methodology. In Vibrio fischeri, transformation requires the regulatory genes tfoX or tfoY, but transformation efficiencies are not highly conserved among natural isolates. Variable genomes within bacterial species have the potential to impact genetic recombination efficiency, causing inconsistent transformation efficiency in diverse host strains. The factors that influence transformation efficiency and methods to maximize transformation are poorly understood. Understanding the components that impact transformation efficiency provides the opportunity to increase genome editing consistency and a tool for mutant comparative research. Moreover, exploring diversity between strains co-isolated from host Euprymna scolopes sheds insight onto the variability between inter-strain interactions. Each subsystem co-exists within the natural host, with unique strains playing differential roles in the species-wide survival and symbiotic relationship, including competition and mutualism. Variation in strain genotypic and phenotypic expression sheds light on how these unique strains co-exist, as well as provides a model for multi-strain symbiosis in nature.