Observing Fungi Competition through Co-culture on Solid Agar
Poster Number
5B
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Skylar Carlson
Faculty Mentor Department
Department of Chemistry
Graduate Student Mentor Name
Kara Talbott
Graduate Student Mentor Department
Department of Chemistry
Abstract/Artist Statement
Fungi and its associated microorganisms found in the natural environment constantly interact through mutualistic and competitive relationships with their fungal neighbor species. A common form of interspecific competition is the production of antifungal metabolic compounds which are used to inhibit the growth of their competitors, block enzymes from functioning, or act as toxins. Of the 5 million identified species of fungi found in various ecological niches, over 600 species are known to infect humans (Vij, 2021). As such, The Carlson Lab is striving to understand fungi-fungi competition through observing the inhibition on solid agar. A plate from another project in the lab was found to contain desiccated sediment from La Jolla (plated on A1 media) where two fungi were observed to inhibit the growth of other fungi observed via sectioning. To further evaluate this interaction, each fungus was taken from the parent plate and isolated on Potato Dextrose Agarose (PDA) plates to regrow them. Various competitions between the species were then co-cultured using three different strategies: vertical lines, dots, and crosses. The growth rates, area of spore coverage, and morphological changes of the fungal isolates were documented every three days for a 2-week period. From the data observed, the future goal is to screen the results of these competition experiments for various antifungal, antimicrobial, or anticancer compounds that they may produce in the process. Thus, the insights gained from these fungi-fungi competition interactions will increase our knowledge of these organisms and have the chance to result in the discovery of metabolic compounds to possibly use to synthesize drugs for human conditions.
References:
Vij, R.; Hube, B.; Brunke, S. Uncharted territories in the discovery of antifungal and antivirulence natural products from bacteria. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. 2021, 19, 1244-1252. DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.02.003.
Location
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Start Date
29-4-2023 10:00 AM
End Date
29-4-2023 1:00 PM
Observing Fungi Competition through Co-culture on Solid Agar
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Fungi and its associated microorganisms found in the natural environment constantly interact through mutualistic and competitive relationships with their fungal neighbor species. A common form of interspecific competition is the production of antifungal metabolic compounds which are used to inhibit the growth of their competitors, block enzymes from functioning, or act as toxins. Of the 5 million identified species of fungi found in various ecological niches, over 600 species are known to infect humans (Vij, 2021). As such, The Carlson Lab is striving to understand fungi-fungi competition through observing the inhibition on solid agar. A plate from another project in the lab was found to contain desiccated sediment from La Jolla (plated on A1 media) where two fungi were observed to inhibit the growth of other fungi observed via sectioning. To further evaluate this interaction, each fungus was taken from the parent plate and isolated on Potato Dextrose Agarose (PDA) plates to regrow them. Various competitions between the species were then co-cultured using three different strategies: vertical lines, dots, and crosses. The growth rates, area of spore coverage, and morphological changes of the fungal isolates were documented every three days for a 2-week period. From the data observed, the future goal is to screen the results of these competition experiments for various antifungal, antimicrobial, or anticancer compounds that they may produce in the process. Thus, the insights gained from these fungi-fungi competition interactions will increase our knowledge of these organisms and have the chance to result in the discovery of metabolic compounds to possibly use to synthesize drugs for human conditions.
References:
Vij, R.; Hube, B.; Brunke, S. Uncharted territories in the discovery of antifungal and antivirulence natural products from bacteria. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. 2021, 19, 1244-1252. DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.02.003.