Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
long-term growth, bacterial traits, Sinorhizobium meliloti, environment
College
Life Sciences
Department
Microbiology and Molecular Biology
Abstract
Organisms removed from their wild environment that are subjected to long term laboratory conditions can experience drastic change. We have specifically used Sinorhizobium meliloti as a model bacterium to address this topic. If soil bacteria containing large genomes necessary to survive in nutrient deficient and stressful conditions were suddenly subjected to nutrient rich and luxurious conditions for 2,500 generations, would they lose some survival based function? We hypothesize that without natural environmental stress, these bacteria would lose the metabolic flexibility previously required for survival resulting in large scale genome reduction.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Kevin and Griffitts, Dr. Joel
(2014)
"The Wall-E Effect: Testing How Long-Term Growth under Ideal Conditions affects Bacterial Traits,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2014:
Iss.
1, Article 779.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2014/iss1/779