EM analysis of bacterial co-cultures
EMSL Project ID
3424
Abstract
A co-culture of a sulfur-reducing bacteria sp. Desulfovibrio and methanogenic bacteria sp. Methanosarcina could show synthropic existence of these species. A morphological study on electron microscopy level is needed to provide insight on cells assembly after incubation these species in a co-culture. Desulfovibrio vulgaris strain Hildenborough (Dv) was obtained from Gerrit Voordouw (Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada). It was originally grown in Postgate medium B (1) but was transferred and maintained in YE medium (2) with 20 mM Na2SO4. Methanosarcina barkeri strain Fusaro (Mb) was obtained from Bill Metcalf (UIUC) and was grown in a methanosarcina medium (ATCC culture medium #1043). Cells of Dv and Mb were individually harvested and washed twice with a phosphate-buffered saline for coculture experiment. The cocultures of Dv and Mb were initiated by inoculating a tube containing the YE medium with 20 mM sodium lactate, but without Na2SO4, with 1 ml each of washed cell suspensions of Dv and Mb. The cocultures were incubated at 35?C for 3 days before the cultures were sampled for examination by electron microscopy.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2003-04-08
End Date
2005-04-11
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator