• Login
    View Item 
    •   Shocker Open Access Repository Home
    • Undergraduate Student Research
    • URCAF: Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum
    • URCAF Abstracts 2022
    • View Item
    •   Shocker Open Access Repository Home
    • Undergraduate Student Research
    • URCAF: Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum
    • URCAF Abstracts 2022
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Measuring the abundance of airborne halotolerant microbes

    View/Open
    Abstract.pdf (48.40Kb)
    Date
    2022-04-15
    Author
    Altohol, Bader
    Advisor
    Schneegurt, Mark A.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Altohol, Bader. 2022. Measuring the abundance of airborne halotolerant microbes -- In Proceedings: 21st Annual Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum. Wichita, KS: Wichita State University, p. 12
    Abstract
    Biogeography studies have shown that microbes can travel long distances in the atmosphere and spread globally. Microbes appear to have no obvious geographical barriers. Baas Becking stated, “everything is everywhere, the environment selects.” This statement suggests that microbes can be everywhere, but their survival depends on the properties of the environment. We investigated this question by sampling the atmosphere for the presence of halotolerant microbes. In the environment, microbes typically grow in freshwater, with little growth at higher NaCl concentrations. Seawater is 2% NaCl; in our experiments, we grow microbes in brines of 10% NaCl. We used R2A medium to create an oligotrophic environment that is more suitable for growing halotolerant microbes from the air or soil. We made two types of R2A media. One is a high-salt R2A medium which we supplemented with 10% NaCl, and the other is a low-salt R2A medium as our control. In addition to the selective media, all the media contained a fungicide cocktail. To collect microbes, we used a method called static air sampling. This is an environmental sampling technique where air is blown directly onto the surface of solid media. We observed about 5 to 10X more colonies on the R2A medium plates than on the high-salt R2A medium plates. In a trial consisting of 6 plates, three of the six were high-salt R2A medium and the other three were R2A medium. Our results showed 43, 29, and 54 colonies on the three high salt R2A medium plates and 459, 527, and 448 colonies on the three R2A medium plates. This led us to conclude that airborne halotolerant microbes are abundant in the atmosphere. We will apply these methods to a wide range of situations. We will conduct experiments to measure microbes in the soil for comparison. Supported by NASA and K-INBRE.
    Description
    Presented to the 21st Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum (URCAF) held at the Rhatigan Student Center, Wichita State University, April 15, 2022.
    URI
    https://soar.wichita.edu/handle/10057/23177
    Collections
    • URCAF Abstracts 2022

    Browse

    All of Shocker Open Access RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsBy TypeThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsBy Type

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2023  DuraSpace
    DSpace Express is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV