1st Student's Major
Biological Sciences
1st Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Students' Professional Biography
Nicole Snyder is from Tracy, Minnesota. I am currently an undergraduate student at Minnesota State University, Mankato majoring in Microbiology. I will be graduating in May 2014 with a BS in Microbiology. I presented this research with my partner at the 2014 Minnesota Undergraduate Scholars Conference and the 2014 Undergraduate Research Symposium. It is my goal to acquire a job in quality assurance or research. Sean Willaert is from Mankato, Minnesota. I am an undergraduate student at Minnesota State University, Mankato. I will graduate in the spring 2016 with a degree in Human Biology. I presented this research with my partner at the 2014 Minnesota Undergraduate Scholars Conference and the 2014 Undergraduate Research Symposium. I would like to attend medical school and pursue a career in the medical field.
Mentor's Name
Timothy Secott
Mentor's Email Address
timothy.secott@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Biological Sciences
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Abstract
Biofilms are a structured community of bacterial cells enclosed in a self-produced polymeric matrix and adherent to an inert or living surface. These structures and the organisms that cause them can pose a very serious problem if they colonize on medical devices. This is because biofilms have the ability to communicate within the colony and with other organisms that might attach to the surface, acting like a community working together. Biofilms allow the organism to be resistant to harsh and unfavorable conditions allowing them to survive longer and spread. Several genes in Escherichia coli (E. coli) have been associated with biofilm formation by that organism. Many of those genes encode surface appendages such as flagella, fimbriae, and pili. We created mutations in genes encoding curli (csgA) and fimbriae (fimA) with the aim of comparing their ability to form biofilms. The respective genes were selected on kanamycin- containing agar and disrupted with a kanamycin resistance gene. Biofilm formation in nutrient- rich medium and nutrient-poor medium is currently in progress, and the ability of the mutant E. coli strains to form biofilms will be compared with that of the parent wild type strain using a crystal violet microplate assay.
Recommended Citation
Snyder, Nicole and Willaert, Sean
(2014)
"Biofilm Formation by Escherichia coli csgA and fimA mutants,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 14, Article 9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1053
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol14/iss1/9
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License