The Effect of Various Quantities of Chitosan on the Bioluminescence of Vibrio fischeri
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Microbiology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Developing countries without adequate access to electricity burn trash in order to create a source of light. This is not a sound way to produce light because fumes pollute the air. Vibrio fischeri, a bioluminescent bacteria, can be utilized to create a light source; however, a substance must be added to the bacteria in order to make it bright enough to be a substantial source of light. Chitosan naturally occurs in V. fischeri's habitat, so it makes for a reasonable material to increase V. fischeri's brightness in addition to its energizing capabilities (Dixit & Carroll, 2018). It was hypothesized that subcultures given 0.7 g of chitosan extract powder for 48 hours will emit the most bioluminescence. In the experiment, 0 g, 0.1 g, 0.4 g, and 0.7 g of chitosan were added to 30 trials, each containing V. fischeri and 30 mL of photobacterium broth. After 24 and 48 hours of time to allow the bacteria to luminesce, images of each subculture were taken, then converted to black-and-white and put into ImageJ to calculate its corrected total cell fluorescence (CTCF). The ANOVA test revealed that differences in experimental groups were significant: F(7, 232) = 2.83, p = 0.008. However, the results of the experiment were inconclusive; none of the subcultures luminesced due to outside factors and possible sources of error. Possible reasons could be overexposure to particles in the air—which could have killed the bacteria—or that the subcultures needed to remain agitated.
Recommended Citation
Nealey, Madeline, "The Effect of Various Quantities of Chitosan on the Bioluminescence of Vibrio fischeri" (2020). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 52.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2020/all/52
Location
Furman Hall 126
Start Date
3-28-2020 9:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Effect of Various Quantities of Chitosan on the Bioluminescence of Vibrio fischeri
Furman Hall 126
Developing countries without adequate access to electricity burn trash in order to create a source of light. This is not a sound way to produce light because fumes pollute the air. Vibrio fischeri, a bioluminescent bacteria, can be utilized to create a light source; however, a substance must be added to the bacteria in order to make it bright enough to be a substantial source of light. Chitosan naturally occurs in V. fischeri's habitat, so it makes for a reasonable material to increase V. fischeri's brightness in addition to its energizing capabilities (Dixit & Carroll, 2018). It was hypothesized that subcultures given 0.7 g of chitosan extract powder for 48 hours will emit the most bioluminescence. In the experiment, 0 g, 0.1 g, 0.4 g, and 0.7 g of chitosan were added to 30 trials, each containing V. fischeri and 30 mL of photobacterium broth. After 24 and 48 hours of time to allow the bacteria to luminesce, images of each subculture were taken, then converted to black-and-white and put into ImageJ to calculate its corrected total cell fluorescence (CTCF). The ANOVA test revealed that differences in experimental groups were significant: F(7, 232) = 2.83, p = 0.008. However, the results of the experiment were inconclusive; none of the subcultures luminesced due to outside factors and possible sources of error. Possible reasons could be overexposure to particles in the air—which could have killed the bacteria—or that the subcultures needed to remain agitated.
