Protozoa Associated with Romaine Lettuce
Location
CSU Ballroom
Start Date
20-4-2015 10:00 AM
End Date
20-4-2015 11:30 AM
Student's Major
Biological Sciences
Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Mentor's Name
Dorothy Wrigley
Mentor's Email Address
dorothy.wrigley@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Biological Sciences
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Description
Green leafy produce, like lettuce, is subjected to minimal treatment post harvesting and has recently been linked with several outbreaks of food borne disease. Given the proximity of lettuce with protozoa and bacteria, it is possible that the protozoa may play a role in pathogen survival on lettuce, especially for those pathogens that can adapt to living inside protozoan cells. This project is examining the incidence of protozoa on grocery store lettuce and the potential association of Escherichia coli with the found protozoa. Romaine lettuce was mixed with either distilled water or phosphate buffered saline, then the liquid was cultured at 25C with oatmeal flakes for protozoal food. After 7 days most cultures had protozoa which appear to be ciliates but they were all low concentration of protozoa. Subculture of the protozoa for testing with E. coli has been difficult and I am currently trying to increase the concentrations of protozoa for further testing. These methods will be presented. Initial testing of a soil ciliate with E. coli showed very little internalization of the E. coli by the ciliate. Another observation was that protozoa are more difficult to find on grocery store Romaine during the winter months.
Protozoa Associated with Romaine Lettuce
CSU Ballroom
Green leafy produce, like lettuce, is subjected to minimal treatment post harvesting and has recently been linked with several outbreaks of food borne disease. Given the proximity of lettuce with protozoa and bacteria, it is possible that the protozoa may play a role in pathogen survival on lettuce, especially for those pathogens that can adapt to living inside protozoan cells. This project is examining the incidence of protozoa on grocery store lettuce and the potential association of Escherichia coli with the found protozoa. Romaine lettuce was mixed with either distilled water or phosphate buffered saline, then the liquid was cultured at 25C with oatmeal flakes for protozoal food. After 7 days most cultures had protozoa which appear to be ciliates but they were all low concentration of protozoa. Subculture of the protozoa for testing with E. coli has been difficult and I am currently trying to increase the concentrations of protozoa for further testing. These methods will be presented. Initial testing of a soil ciliate with E. coli showed very little internalization of the E. coli by the ciliate. Another observation was that protozoa are more difficult to find on grocery store Romaine during the winter months.
Recommended Citation
Son, Hee. "Protozoa Associated with Romaine Lettuce." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 20, 2015.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2015/poster_session_A/13
