Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Bacillus anthracis--Genetics; Microorganisms--Detection; Academic theses;
Abstract
Recently, phages have been used as affinity reagents in quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)-based biodetection methods. The goal of this study was to isolate and characterize a Bacillus cereus group soil-phage assemblage, which was isolated from 5 grams of local topsoil, and compare its population structure to that of a similar phage assemblage that had been additionally selected by adhering to a QCM electrode. Viruses aren't well-defined in terms of 'species', therefore operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were defined by structural protein profiles from sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). We were able to obtain a conservative estimate of soilphage 'species' richness and evenness based on the SDS-PAGE profiles. After analysis, all QCM electrode-binding isolates (N=7) were placed in the same OTU, while the total soil-phage assemblage (N=42) yielded 22 unique OTUs. Simpson's Diversity Index for the QCM electrode-binding soil phage assemblage was 1 and roughly 0.016 for the total soil-phage assemblage. Shannon's Index for the electrode-binding soil-phage assemblage was O and roughly 2.76 for the total soil-phage assemblage. Using this method, the index values indicate that while the Bacillus cereus group soil-phage assemblage was extremely diverse and uneven in our sample, the electrode-binding soil phage assemblage was not. Our results show that in our sample species richness was extremely high, the soil-phage assemblage was very uneven and that QCM electrode-binding by a phage seems to be atypical among natural soil phages.
Year of Submission
2012
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Department of Biology
First Advisor
Michael H. Walter
Second Advisor
James E. Jurgenson
Third Advisor
Laura Jackson
Date Original
2012
Object Description
1 PDF file (75 leaves)
Copyright
©2012 Gabriel David Connell
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Connell, Gabriel David, "A QCM-Adhering Bacillus anthracis Soil Phage Assemblage Is Less Diverse Than a Total B. anthracis Soil Phage Assemblage" (2012). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2383.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2383
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