18th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Characterization of the Culturable Microbial Community Existing on Calliphoridae Fly Larvae
Kimberly J. Kennett
Dr. Jose Herrera, Faculty Mentor
The culturable proportion of the microbial community inhabiting the surface of Calliphoridae sp. fly larvae is presently being characterized. Larvae were obtained in the field by placing Mus sp. and Peromyscus sp. carcasses in tomahawk cages at the Truman State University farm in open Petri dishes. The carcasses were set out for no longer than one week, allowing ample time for adult female flies to oviposit. A minimum of five larvae were collected from larval aggregations present on each carcass; each larva was then vortexed in a 1% Triton X solution, 0.1ml of which was plated on tryptic soy, malt extract, brain heart infusion, and nutrient agar plates within 24 hours. Results reveal that a large number of bacterial species inhabiting the surface of these organisms were potentially pathogenic to vertebrates. This finding may explain the lack of field observations of vertebrate predator consumption of carrion fly larvae.
Keywords: fly larvae, Calliphoridae, microbial ecology
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 11-1
Location: VH 1412
Time: 8:15