Start Date
5-9-2016 10:15 AM
End Date
5-9-2016 10:45 AM
Description
Extremophiles are exceptional microorganisms that live on this planet in extraordinarily harsh environments. One such extremophiles are Halophiles, salt-loving microorganisms that can survive in extreme salinity levels, and have been found to survive inside salt crystals. We were curious is about the potential diversity of halophiles surviving in salts harvested from around the world. For this experiment various culinary salts were suspended in a 23 % NaCL growth media broth and allowed to grow for 4 weeks. Afterwards, the individual strains were isolated on 23 % NaCl growth media agar plates. The colonies observed were visually diverse in color and margins. Individual colonies were grown in broth and DNA was extracted. PCR and sequencing were utilized to compare the 16S rRNA gene in each species of bacteria or archaea. We will present data on the microbial diversity of the salts that did have media cultures. These salts come from 1) salt pearls from Lake Assal Djibouti, Africa; 2 Fleur De Sel Gris Sea Salt from France, Europe; 3) sea salt from Bali, Indonesia; and 4) salt collected from the lake bed of Great Salt Lake, Utah.
Microbial Diversity of Culinary Salts
Extremophiles are exceptional microorganisms that live on this planet in extraordinarily harsh environments. One such extremophiles are Halophiles, salt-loving microorganisms that can survive in extreme salinity levels, and have been found to survive inside salt crystals. We were curious is about the potential diversity of halophiles surviving in salts harvested from around the world. For this experiment various culinary salts were suspended in a 23 % NaCL growth media broth and allowed to grow for 4 weeks. Afterwards, the individual strains were isolated on 23 % NaCl growth media agar plates. The colonies observed were visually diverse in color and margins. Individual colonies were grown in broth and DNA was extracted. PCR and sequencing were utilized to compare the 16S rRNA gene in each species of bacteria or archaea. We will present data on the microbial diversity of the salts that did have media cultures. These salts come from 1) salt pearls from Lake Assal Djibouti, Africa; 2 Fleur De Sel Gris Sea Salt from France, Europe; 3) sea salt from Bali, Indonesia; and 4) salt collected from the lake bed of Great Salt Lake, Utah.