Volume 3, No. 1, 2017
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Acta Spartae is the undergraduate journal of sciences and mathematics at The University of Tampa, and is designed to recognize and promote the vibrant undergraduate research community at UT by providing a forum for the dissemination of research and ideas produced at the University.
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Browsing Volume 3, No. 1, 2017 by Subject "Department of Biology"
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Item Microbial Properties of Montipora Coral Mucus(College of Natural and Health Sciences, The University of Tampa, 2017) Jayde A. Zimmerman, Cody J. Cox; Eric FreundtMucus produced by corals has a varied understanding with many gaps. Although there are many hypotheses regarding the function and purpose of the mucus itself, and the many microbial communities that inhabit it, there are still many inquiries about it. The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether coral mucus possessed diverse microbes and whether the mucus held any antibacterial properties against gram positive or gram negative bacteria compared to seawater. Mucus was collected from Montipora species and plated on marine agar. Individual bacterial colonies were isolated and gram stained. Our results showed that the mucus does not show antibacterial activity but contains as much as five times the amount of bacteria in comparison to seawater. Additionally, the coral mucus contained exclusively gram negative bacteria whereas the seawater contained both gram negative and gram positive bacteria. These results suggest that coral mucus is a hospitable site for growth of gram negative bacteria.Item Occurrence of MRSA on Fish in the Hillsborough River(College of Natural and Health Sciences, The University of Tampa, 2017) Zachery Rivera, Kimberly Grassett; Ann Williams; Bridgette FroeschkeMRSA is a drug-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus known to cause frequent infections in humans. Water quality assessments have identified MRSA at varying levels throughout the Hillsborough River which indicates that MRSA may be present on the organisms that reside in those waters. In this experiment, Fish were collected from multiple sites throughout the Hillsborough River and swabbed to assess the presence of MRSA on the organism. Bacterial samples were grown on Mannitol Salt Agar, isolated, and tested for drugresistance using the Kirby Bauer Disk Diffusion Assay. MRSA was isolated from the scales and inside the mouths of fish at multiple sites on the Hillsborough River. The presence of MRSA on these fish could potentially pose a health risk to fisherman who encounter the fish harboring MRSA isolates. Fisherman with an open wound on their hand that handle these fish could acquire a MRSA infection and require subsequent medical treatment as a result.Item Transformation of a Mixed Probiotic Culture and Escherichia coli B with the Antibiotic Resistant Plasmid, pGLO(College of Natural and Health Sciences, The University of Tampa, 2017) Raven M. Wright, Haley L. Thompson; Eric FreundtProbiotics are microorganisms residing in the gastrointestinal tract that have been shown to help with metabolic functions, immune responses, and in the prevention of pathogenic diseases. In this study, we sought to determine if the probiotic brand, Garden of Life, could acquire novel phenotypes through heat-shock transformation. We predicted that Garden of Life, along with Escherichia coli HB101 and Escherichia coli B would be able to grow on ampicillin enriched plates after transformation with the plasmid, pGLO, which contained the gene for beta-lactamase. During the study, all three bacterial cultures underwent heat shock transformation in the presence of pGLO. After transformation was complete, each new culture was plated on LB agar containing ampicillin and arabinose to determine whether antibiotic resistance and GFP expression were observed. The results showed that only Escherichia coli HB101 had successfully become antibiotic resistant. Our results demonstrate that the gram positive species in Garden of Life probiotics are not able to efficiently take up plasmid DNA using heat shock transformation and that the method appeared to have strain restrictions as well.