Is the bacteria Serratia endogenous to Parasitodiplogaster nematodes?
Board Location: #73
Discipline: Ecology Environmental and Earth Sciences
Subcategory: Ecology
Session: 3
J’Bonae McDonald - The University of Missouri
Co-Author(s): Justin Van Goor, The University of Missouri, Columbia
Every community is made up of interacting organisms that help sustain one another. Understanding the complexities of these interactions and how they affect community dynamics is a foundational issue in biology. A striking example and interesting model of complex community relationships can be found in the fig (Ficus spp.). The fig provides reproductive resources for pollinating fig wasps (Family Agaonidae), who in return, provide pollination services for the fig, and is thus a classic example of mutualism. Pollinating fig wasps may carry with them the nematode Parasitodiplogaster, in their abdomen and the fungus Fusarium on their exoskeleton. Fusarium is the primary cause of a disease known as Fig Endosepsis which causes the rotting of the fig interior. A newly discovered association in figs is that of the bacteria Serratia that appears to be associated with Parasitodiplogaster nematodes. This bacterium is hypothesized to break down Fusarium fungus while assisting with the nematode consumption of wasp material. Previous research conducted over the summer has supported the hypothesis that the bacteria Serratia is obligate to Parasitodiplogaster nematodes. As there is little known about the relationship between Serratia bacterium, Parasitodiplogaster nematodes, and Fusarium fungi, this project aims to investigate the relationship between Serratia and Parasitodiplogaster to determine its origin within the fig ecosystem. We hypothesize that the species of Serratia found in nematodes is endogenous to Parasitodiplogaster. We tested this hypothesis by extracting the DNA of Parasitodiplogaster nematodes at different life stages, fig wasps, and fig material collected from Ficus citrifolia trees in Miami, Florida. RT/QPCR amplification of three Serratia barcode genes and Agarose Gel Electrophoresis analysis was used to confirm or deny the presence and quantify the amount of the bacteria in the three experiments. We expect results from this project to suggest that the bacteria Serratia is endogenous to nematodes as the Gel Electrophoresis will show the presence of Serratia barcodes in samples, regardless of life stage. It also will show the bacteria at peak quantity during the consumption stages of nematode life, and the bacteria will be unique to the nematodes. Future research on whether the bacteria Serratia causes the breakdown of the fungus Fusarium, will help to prove whether the relationship between Parasitodiplogaster nematodes and the fungus is mutualistic.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): MU’s MARC Fellows program for funding this project via grant number T34 GM 136493 from the National Institute of General Medical Science (NIGMS), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Faculty Advisor: Justin Van Goor, jvangoor@missouri.edu
Role: I took the samples collected by Dr. Van Goor, and performed all the methods.