Identification and Characterization of Microbiota from the Gastrointestinal Tract of the Drosophila Fruit Fly
Disciplines
Life Sciences | Microbiology
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. These systems tend to present as a single gene or gene-clusters in the chromosome of the bacterial host (cadBD or cadium, chrA for chromium, pbrA for lead) and are attractive candidates for genetic engineering of other bacteria that do not normally carry out these functions. Moreover, can we get a model organism to carry organisms that have been engineered for bioremediation purposes.
The bacteria that naturally inhabit the gut of the fruit fly will be most adapted to live within that host system without harming the host. However, the Drosophila gut microbiome has been characterized and demonstrated to be taxonomically variable. We will generate pure cultures for genomic extraction and identification by DNA sequencing. Biochemical profiling will be conducted to determine metal sensitivity as well as antibiotic profiling (necessary for further genetic manipulations) using Biolog microbial identification assays.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Molecular and Cellular Biology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Melanie Griffin
Additional Faculty
Anton Bryantsev, Molecular and Cellular Biology, abryants@kennesaw.edu
Identification and Characterization of Microbiota from the Gastrointestinal Tract of the Drosophila Fruit Fly
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. These systems tend to present as a single gene or gene-clusters in the chromosome of the bacterial host (cadBD or cadium, chrA for chromium, pbrA for lead) and are attractive candidates for genetic engineering of other bacteria that do not normally carry out these functions. Moreover, can we get a model organism to carry organisms that have been engineered for bioremediation purposes.
The bacteria that naturally inhabit the gut of the fruit fly will be most adapted to live within that host system without harming the host. However, the Drosophila gut microbiome has been characterized and demonstrated to be taxonomically variable. We will generate pure cultures for genomic extraction and identification by DNA sequencing. Biochemical profiling will be conducted to determine metal sensitivity as well as antibiotic profiling (necessary for further genetic manipulations) using Biolog microbial identification assays.