Bacterial Strain from the Charles River

Bacterial Strain from the Charles River

Submitted by Mandana Sassanfar of the Department of Biology

MIT Department of Biology

Mandana Sassanfar
Department of Biology
Photograph

"This strain of bacteria displays a very interesting colony morphology and change in color that may indicate quoarum sensing.  The color switches from white to very dark purple as the colonies age and the colonies wrinkle up.

My goal is to expose MIT freshmen to what basic research is like by choosing a very simple model system (bacteria and their phages) and teach them various technical skills routinely used in molecular biology.  Each student must identify a strain of bacteria that was isolated from the Charles river and attempt to isolate and characterize a phage that grows on the bacteria."

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