Bar-Coded Enterobacteria: An Undergraduate Microbial Ecology Laboratory Module

Thao Le¹, James Trexel¹, Alexandra Brugler¹, Kristina Tiebel¹, Yukari Maezato¹, Brian Robertson¹ and Paul Blum¹

¹School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln NE, USA

Cite this paper:
Thao Le, James Trexel, Alexandra Brugler, Kristina Tiebel, Yukari Maezato, Brian Robertson and Paul Blum. Bar-Coded Enterobacteria: An Undergraduate Microbial Ecology Laboratory Module. American Journal of Educational Research. 2013; 1(1):26-30. doi: 10.12691/education-1-1-6

Abstract

Microbial community ecology is an area of rapid growth centered within the larger discipline of microbiology. Newly developed research methods using molecular strategies have transformed this area into an accessible research topic. Despite such advances, transmission of this topic into pedagogical form has lagged behind. To improve this situation, an undergraduate research team created an artificial microbial community for class room use. They used color-coded enterobacterial taxa transformed with broad-host range plasmids that encoded green fluorescent protein color variants. Using this instructional tool, a class room teaching module was developed about microbial fitness. Over a multi-semester period, the module was introduced into a conventional microbiology curriculum and refined. The learning outcomes for this module include; understanding community composition, that the members of a community can respond in different ways to external events and, that these responses can be used to measure fitness. Learning outcomes were measured through pre and post testing and indicated a gain in understanding about microbial communities.

Keywords:
Microbial Ecology Laboratory Exercise Enterobacteria Bar-coding GFP

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Figures

References:

[1]	Amann, R. I., L. Krumholz, and D. A. Stahl. 1990. Fluorescent-oligonucleotide probing of whole cells for determinative, phylogenetic, and environmental studies in microbiology. Journal of Bacteriolgy, 172:762-70.
[2]	Giovannoni, S. J., E. F. DeLong, G. J. Olsen, and N. R. Pace. 1988. Phylogenetic group-specific oligodeoxynucleotide probes for identification of single microbial cells. Journal of Bacteriolgy, 170:720-6.
[3]	Ponniah, G., H. Chen, R. Michielutti, N. Salonen, and P. Blum. 2003. Single-cell protein profiling of wastewater enterobacterial communities predicts disinfection efficiency. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 69:4227-35.
[4]	Rappe, M. S., and S. J. Giovannoni. 2003. The uncultured microbial majority. Annual Review of Microbiology, 57:369-94.
[5]	Rockabrand, D., T. Austin, R. Kaiser, and P. Blum. 1999. Bacterial growth state distinguished by single-cell protein profiling: does chlorination kill coliforms in municipal effluent? Applied Environmental Microbiology, 65:4181-8.
[6]	Rockabrand, D., K. Livers, T. Austin, R. Kaiser, D. Jensen, R. Burgess, and P. Blum. 1998. Roles of DnaK and RpoS in starvation-induced thermotolerance of Escherichia coli. Journal of Bacteriolgy, 180:846-54.
[7]	Schmidt, T. M., E. F. DeLong, and N. R. Pace. 1991. Analysis of a marine picoplankton community by 16S rRNA gene cloning and sequencing. Journal of Bacteriolgy, 173:4371-8.
[8]	Staley, J. T., and A. Konopka. 1985. Measurement of in situ activities of nonphotosynthetic microorganisms in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Annual Review of Microbiology, 39:321-46.