Submission Date

7-18-2024

Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Department

Biology

Faculty Mentor

Anthony Lobo

Comments

Presented during the 26th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 19, 2024 at Ursinus College.

Phi6 stock was provided by The Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada.

Project Description

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria and enveloped viruses are examples of pathogens that pose major threats to human health globally. Better understanding the mechanisms of these pathogenic threats will allow for the development of therapeutic treatments to mitigate their harm. In my study of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, I confirmed that ciprofloxacin resistance plasmids were transferred to the Escherichia coli J53 azide-resistant background strain by conjugation. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) experiments indicated the transconjugant 14-2 had an MIC of <200 >µg/mL for ciprofloxacin and >150 µg/mL for sodium azide. The results of gel electrophoresis showed that the plasmids of the transconjugants were low in copy number but appeared large in size. I will continue to study the plasmid via polymerase chain reaction analysis with various quinolone-resistance gene primers, whole-plasmid sequencing, and ciprofloxacin-conjugated nanomaterials. In my study of enveloped viruses, I used the bacteriophage phi6 as a surrogate for SARS-CoV 2. Thus far, I have optimized the growth of the host bacterium of phi6, Pseudomonas syringae, discovering that LB medium was best. I have also optimized the conditions for performing a plaque assay of the phi6 bacteriophage in tempering a top agar layer to 50 °C and adding 200 µL of bacterial culture to the top agar. Attempts are currently underway to examine the effects of single-walled carbon nanotubes on plaque formation by phi6.

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