Bioluminescence investigations

Bioluminescence Investigations

What

We are investigating life that gives off light!!

already we have dinoflagellates (without flagella!) and Photobacterium phosphorum !
(hoping for some glowing mycelia, but wonder if it is simply phosphorescence there...)

Who is involved?

It all started with 2 students from Nyon, who wanted to do their 'travail de maturité' with some bioluminscent bacteria, to make a mosaic!

• Inès Nerodenkova
• Luca DN

They ordered Vibrio fischeri from a French biotech company in a special kit.

while a bit of light was visible in cultures, in comparison to controls, and determined by unbiased dark-adapted participants, it was not very bright, and no good pictures were obtained of it...

Advice was requested from

• Siouxsie Wiles - Australian researcher, who recommended Photobacterium phosphorum, as brighter.

Help was also obtained from

• Hackuarium members (Rachel, Luc H)

• more members are getting involved (Esther) and
• new members may be coming on board (Christelle) for more fun!

esp, as Rachel also ordered some bioluminescent Dinoflagellates from a company in the states.

Recent results in the new BioLab in Ecublens

The strain obtained by the students from Nyon last year actually isn't V. fischeri, but the recommended Photobacterium phosphorum

• pcr with 16S primers 671 and 672...
  

then sequencing results!
File:36AJ98 77018090 77018090.pdf

blast showed about 92% identity over the 16S rRNA region sequenced vs. V. fischeri, so it seems clear that the french co also thought the P. phos was brighter, but didn't want to waste their kit boxes! :)

• Christelle got some good pictures from plates, but new experiments with more salt are being run now!

• This is one of the best pics of the dinoflagellates so far...

What's Next

The challenge is to get their real color in images, and to make them bright...
extra salt is seemingly very important!
but maybe not malic acid... The second test for this is ongoing!
more results to come soon!