Abstract
The change in the genetic composition of populations over time is called ‘evolution’. Since a large number of generations is required to observe the genetic response to altered conditions, microorganisms are quite popular in this field. For example, a bacteria dividing every 30 minutes will produce its 1440th generation descendant in a month. Therefore, we have built a device inspired by a chemostat which enables precise control of the selective pressure under which organisms evolve and it facilitates experimental control of cell growth rate (1).
Our device which can be seen in a drawing representation above is a continuous liquid culture for microorganisms and it maintains a constant level of growth on evolving bacterial populations. In this specific device, bacterial populations are evolving in temperature dependent manner. In other words, our selective pressure is temperature.
Objectives
The aim of this project is to create a set up in which evolutionary processes of microorganisms can be carried out. This setup/device is designed to be used by experimental microbiologists on their evolutionary researches.
Term:
2016-2017 Summer
Faculty Department of Project Supervisor:
Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Number of Students:
2
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