32nd Annual Student Research Conference
Single-Cell Investigation of the Effects of DC Electric Current on Bacteria
Ariel T. Rogers
Dr. Yong Wang (University of Arkansas) and Dr. Vayujeet Gokhale, Faculty Mentors
The long-term goal of this research is to understand the molecular mechanism of DC electric current’s antibiotic effects against bacteria. Understanding this mechanism will facilitate the use of DC electric current as an alternative to commonly prescribed antibiotics to fight against resistant bacteria and to treat infections. Previous studies had shown bacteria grow significantly slower when subjected to DC electric voltages and currents. The objective of this project is to find out how H-NS proteins are arranged in bacteria to gain further insight into how bacteria react to electric current on the molecular level. Escherichia coli (E. coli) is used as a model system in this study and one hypothesis is that because E. Coli has a negative charge, the proteins in the bacteria will move to either side of the bacteria and cause it to align with the electric field. Our research set up uses what is known as a super resolution microscope to analyze H-NS proteins inside E. Coli and we find that the number of proteins decreases overall.
Keywords: Bacteria, Microscope, Electric Current
Topic(s):Physics
Biology
Computer Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 103-4
Location: BH 212
Time: 9:15