Abstract
One critical ecological challenge is to circumvent invasion from non-indigenous organisms. Studying the factors that affect the ability of a non-indigenous species to colonize and spread into a new territory is very challenging due to multiple confounding factors. Synthetic biology is often not subject to these confounds, and thus we utilize it to explore factors that allow invasive species to successfully invade a new area. Specifically, we use engineered bacteria that are programmed to have an Allee effect, a fundamental growth dynamic that is observed in most invasive species. Using these bacteria, we take a two-pronged approach. First, we examine how the engineered bacteria spread in a continuously connected environment. Here, the bacteria were inoculated into a defined location of a microplate well and allowed to spread, the rate at which was controlled by the density of agar in nutrient medium. We used high resolution OD600 measurement to quantify growth at various area of the well. From this, we discovered unique growth patterns that may help to predict how fast an invasive species travels in a new environment. Second, we examined the effect of repeated introduction of the engineered bacteria into a novel environment. Here, we grew the bacteria in medium with different agar densities, which controlled their spread rate. At various intervals, we reintroduced a defined amount of bacteria and examined growth using colony forming units. Our results may indicate a unique principle that dictates survival and extinction for an invasive species with an Allee effect.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Robert Smith
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-8-2016 1:00 PM
End Date
4-8-2016 5:30 PM
Using Engineered Bacteria to Explore Biological Invasions
Alvin Sherman Library
One critical ecological challenge is to circumvent invasion from non-indigenous organisms. Studying the factors that affect the ability of a non-indigenous species to colonize and spread into a new territory is very challenging due to multiple confounding factors. Synthetic biology is often not subject to these confounds, and thus we utilize it to explore factors that allow invasive species to successfully invade a new area. Specifically, we use engineered bacteria that are programmed to have an Allee effect, a fundamental growth dynamic that is observed in most invasive species. Using these bacteria, we take a two-pronged approach. First, we examine how the engineered bacteria spread in a continuously connected environment. Here, the bacteria were inoculated into a defined location of a microplate well and allowed to spread, the rate at which was controlled by the density of agar in nutrient medium. We used high resolution OD600 measurement to quantify growth at various area of the well. From this, we discovered unique growth patterns that may help to predict how fast an invasive species travels in a new environment. Second, we examined the effect of repeated introduction of the engineered bacteria into a novel environment. Here, we grew the bacteria in medium with different agar densities, which controlled their spread rate. At various intervals, we reintroduced a defined amount of bacteria and examined growth using colony forming units. Our results may indicate a unique principle that dictates survival and extinction for an invasive species with an Allee effect.
