Identifying gut-friendly bacteria from yogurt for Drosophila colonization study

Disciplines

Biology | Life Sciences | Microbiology | Organismal Biological Physiology | Other Cell and Developmental Biology

Abstract (300 words maximum)

Heavy metal resistance by various microorganism has been demonstrated to be an effective potential source of bioremediation of contaminated environmental sites. Bacteria possess heavy metal-responsive detoxification genes that have been characterized by various groups and demonstrated to remove high levels of these metals, such as chromium, cadmium and lead, from contaminated soils and water. Moreover, can we get a model organism such as the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to carry organisms that have been engineered for bioremediation purposes.

In order to populate the gut of the fruit fly with one of our interest, flies must first be grown “germ free” (axenic). Initial studies carried out by the joint labs of Bryansev (fly work) and Griffin (bacteria work) to isolate a fly microbiome organism yielded slow growing and uncooperative bacteria. In this project, we turned to yogurt for more friendly and perhaps adaptable organisms for the colonization. We have successfully generated pure cultures for several candidate organisms and conducted genomic extraction for genetic identification by DNA sequencing. We have also conducted biochemical profiling and identification and tested them for antibiotic susceptibility. Transformation of these microbes is currently underway.

Academic department under which the project should be listed

CSM - Molecular and Cellular Biology

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Melanie Griffin

Additional Faculty

Anton Bryantsev, MCB, abryants@kennesaw.edu

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Identifying gut-friendly bacteria from yogurt for Drosophila colonization study

Heavy metal resistance by various microorganism has been demonstrated to be an effective potential source of bioremediation of contaminated environmental sites. Bacteria possess heavy metal-responsive detoxification genes that have been characterized by various groups and demonstrated to remove high levels of these metals, such as chromium, cadmium and lead, from contaminated soils and water. Moreover, can we get a model organism such as the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, to carry organisms that have been engineered for bioremediation purposes.

In order to populate the gut of the fruit fly with one of our interest, flies must first be grown “germ free” (axenic). Initial studies carried out by the joint labs of Bryansev (fly work) and Griffin (bacteria work) to isolate a fly microbiome organism yielded slow growing and uncooperative bacteria. In this project, we turned to yogurt for more friendly and perhaps adaptable organisms for the colonization. We have successfully generated pure cultures for several candidate organisms and conducted genomic extraction for genetic identification by DNA sequencing. We have also conducted biochemical profiling and identification and tested them for antibiotic susceptibility. Transformation of these microbes is currently underway.

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