Event Title
Looking for Evidence of Predator Mediated Apparent Competition Between Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium Using PRD1 Bacteriophage
Presentation Type
Poster/Portfolio
Presenter Major(s)
Biomedical Sciences
Mentor Information
Doug Graham, grahamdo@gvsu.edu
Department
Biomedical Sciences
Location
Kirkhof Center KC15
Start Date
13-4-2011 10:00 AM
End Date
13-4-2011 11:00 AM
Abstract
Apparent competition is an indirect interaction between two (or more) species who share a common predator. This ecological principle has been demonstrated through interactions between diverse organisms ranging from sea urchins to rodents but also in laboratory constructed microcosms. In apparent competition one of the host consumers is able to support a greater amount of predation, indirectly causing the decline of the other host consumer. By placing the pathogenically important bacteria Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium with a common predator, we hope to demonstrate this principle. The predator is PRD1 bacteriophage, capable of infecting a broad range of gram negative hosts through the use of conjugative plasmids. Populations of E. coli and S. typhimurium will be compared when alone, in coexistence, and in the presence and absence of PRD1. Data collected thus far lead us to believe that with the use of PRD1, an indirect interaction exists between E. coli and S. typhimurium.
Looking for Evidence of Predator Mediated Apparent Competition Between Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium Using PRD1 Bacteriophage
Kirkhof Center KC15
Apparent competition is an indirect interaction between two (or more) species who share a common predator. This ecological principle has been demonstrated through interactions between diverse organisms ranging from sea urchins to rodents but also in laboratory constructed microcosms. In apparent competition one of the host consumers is able to support a greater amount of predation, indirectly causing the decline of the other host consumer. By placing the pathogenically important bacteria Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium with a common predator, we hope to demonstrate this principle. The predator is PRD1 bacteriophage, capable of infecting a broad range of gram negative hosts through the use of conjugative plasmids. Populations of E. coli and S. typhimurium will be compared when alone, in coexistence, and in the presence and absence of PRD1. Data collected thus far lead us to believe that with the use of PRD1, an indirect interaction exists between E. coli and S. typhimurium.