Justin and Pamela’s focus for microbiology research specifically looked at the microbial ecology of Antarctic lakes. They were working under the supervision of Dr. Rachael Morgan-Kiss of the Microbiology Department. Their research posed them with two questions focusing on the different types of microbes that can grow in varying Antarctic conditions and how adding oxidative stress would impact the microbes growth. These questions help researchers to better understand the microbial ecology of the untouched Lake Bonney. The work was carried out by using PCR sequencing and enrichment cultivation techniques. The study was able to show that oxidative stress can positively and negatively impact different bacteria found in Lake Bonney. From their data, it was found that Alphaproteobacteria, Oxyphotobacteria, and Bacteroidia were able to increase in abundance compared to the Time0 data. In addition, Gammaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetacia, Ignavibacteria, Anaerolineae, and Acidimicrobiia were negatively affected by the oxidative stress and did not grow very much or at all when compared to the Time0 data. This has shown researchers that some bacteria within the Antarctic environment are able to thrive in oxidative stress conditions. Their genomes contain necessary genes to adapt to the high amounts of hydrogen peroxide. Moving forward, we can increase the concentration of hydrogen peroxide and see how this impacts the different microbes within our enrichment cultures. Furthermore, we can further explore the genomes and see what genes are impacting the surviving bacteria versus the ones that did not thrive as much in the oxidative stress environment. This experience has been relevant to the intended careers of Justin and Pamela because they are both interested in careers that pertain to doing laboratory research, and Pamela hopes to attend medical school in the future.
Authors: Justin Klatt, Pamela Lweis
Faculty Advisor: Rachael Morgan-Kiss, Microbiology
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