Booth Id:
MCRO016
Category:
Microbiology
Year:
2021
Finalist Names:
Wang, Jiutong (School: Beijing No. 8 High School)
Abstract:
There are a large number of people who raise harvester ants in China, but most of them don't know much about pet ants. Harvester ants can preserve seeds. The study of this mechanism is instructive for future innovations in food preservation methods. The way harvester ants preserve seeds from decomposition may have implications for health protection.
In order to explore maintenance mechanism of pet harvester ants, researching the composition of microorganisms and interaction within microorganisms should be primary objective.
In the study, I did microculture at first, then use molecular biological methods such as DNA extraction, PCR, gel electrophoresis detection, and finally sequencing for data analysis.
According to the current data, the dominant fungi of treated seed is Candida candisilosis and the dominant bacterial is Staphylococcus saprophyticus accounting for 80% to 90%.
The microbial community structure on the surface of fresh seeds and treated seeds are inconsistent. Most of the original microbes on the surface of the fresh seeds were screened out when the harvester ants maintained their healthy nests and inoculated or attracted new microbes.
But the interaction within microorganisms is not clear. I will determine the secondary metabolites of the dominant strains and infer the interaction within microorganisms based on the data of metabolites. High-throughput sequencing is a better way to research the composition of microorganisms. I will use it in the future.