Evolvability of Sporulation and Germination in Bacillus Subtilis Batch Culture

Elizabeth Ouanemalay

Elizabeth Ouanemalay is a rising junior (‘23) from Long Beach, California double majoring in Biology and Science in Society. Outside of the classroom, Elizabeth serves on the First-Generation Low-Income (FGLI) Advisory Board, works as a tech support at the ITS Help Desk, and volunteers for the Center for Prison Education (CPE). During her free time, Elizabeth enjoys binging Anime, playing games on her Nintendo Switch, and foraging for snacks. Beyond Wesleyan, she hopes to pursue research focused on microbiology.

Abstract: Important research focuses on endospore-forming bacteria because of their diverse relevance to our lives, from pathogens to plant growth promoters. Our research uses the endospore-forming Bacillus subtilis to compare heat-treated and control populations to determine evolvability of sporulation and germination in batch culture, the most common method of growing bacteria in a lab setting. We quickly saw that heat treatment acted as stabilizing selection for sporulation ability, because of the dramatic loss of sporulation ability in our control group. We also saw improved germination ability in the heat-treatment group. These results demonstrate how quickly sporulation and germination dynamics can adapt to batch culture.

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Elizabeth Ouanemalay, Biology Department

Final-Summer-2021-Elizabeth-Poster

Live Poster Session: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/99443973421?pwd=bGFaMXprMGJ2b0RrSyszVFMxbG05UT09
Thursday, July 29th 2:45-3:45pm EDT