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Rhamnolipid Independent Swarming of Pseudomonas aeruginosa
thesis
posted on 2012-12-06, 00:00 authored by Nachiket KamatkarSwarming is a surface-associated motility where bacteria spread in groups, often as a precursor to biofilm formation. The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is known to swarm using its polar flagellum and a self-produced surfactant called rhamnolipid. This thesis details swarming in response to two types of environmental conditions: surface hardness and carbon source. It was found that swarm zone expansion and bacterial population are not linearly correlated during swarming and further that increased surface hardness significantly decreases rhamnolipid-dependent swarming. Secondly, it was found that a rhamnolipid-deficient P. aeruginosa strain swarmed upon the addition of the carbon source glutamate. This is unexpected, as no previous rhamnolipid-deficient swarming has been documented for P. aerguinosa. A mutagenesis approach was used to find gene(s) responsible for this rhamnolipid-independent swarm phenotype by probing for mutants that negate the glutamate swarming effect. Two thousand mutants were screened, twelve of which were found to not swarm with glutamate.
History
Date Modified
2017-06-05Research Director(s)
Joshua ShroutCommittee Members
Shaun Lee Robert NerenbergDegree
- Master of Science in Bioengineering
Degree Level
- Master's Thesis
Language
- English
Alternate Identifier
etd-12062012-002955Publisher
University of Notre DameProgram Name
- Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences
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