Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar

Lack of access to reagents and equipment can make performing microbiology experiments difficult in K-12 classrooms and do-it-yourself (DIY) science settings. We demonstrate how the bacterium Sphingomonas paucimobilis can be used to synthesize gellan gum, an alternative to agar, with materials availa...

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Autores principales:	Jenna C. McGuffey, Dacia Leon, Erum Z. Dhanji, Dennis M. Mishler, Jeffrey E. Barrick
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2018
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3145de69c90548b281dd5a403ba311c6
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3145de69c90548b281dd5a403ba311c62021-11-15T15:04:10ZBacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar10.1128/jmbe.v19i2.15301935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/3145de69c90548b281dd5a403ba311c62018-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v19i2.1530https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885Lack of access to reagents and equipment can make performing microbiology experiments difficult in K-12 classrooms and do-it-yourself (DIY) science settings. We demonstrate how the bacterium Sphingomonas paucimobilis can be used to synthesize gellan gum, an alternative to agar, with materials available to DIY scientists and educators. The method involves microwaving cultures of S. paucimobilis after a two-step growth procedure, supplementing them with additional media components as necessary, and then pouring plates. Gellan gum produced in the S. paucimobilis culture acts as a solidifying agent and provides a resilient surface that supports growth of microbes, including Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This procedure offers a unique opportunity to experiment with microbial production of an extracellular polysaccharide and to cheaply and sustainably source a reagent for research.Jenna C. McGuffeyDacia LeonErum Z. DhanjiDennis M. MishlerJeffrey E. BarrickAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 19, Iss 2 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Jenna C. McGuffey Dacia Leon Erum Z. Dhanji Dennis M. Mishler Jeffrey E. Barrick Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar
description	Lack of access to reagents and equipment can make performing microbiology experiments difficult in K-12 classrooms and do-it-yourself (DIY) science settings. We demonstrate how the bacterium Sphingomonas paucimobilis can be used to synthesize gellan gum, an alternative to agar, with materials available to DIY scientists and educators. The method involves microwaving cultures of S. paucimobilis after a two-step growth procedure, supplementing them with additional media components as necessary, and then pouring plates. Gellan gum produced in the S. paucimobilis culture acts as a solidifying agent and provides a resilient surface that supports growth of microbes, including Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This procedure offers a unique opportunity to experiment with microbial production of an extracellular polysaccharide and to cheaply and sustainably source a reagent for research.
format	article
author	Jenna C. McGuffey Dacia Leon Erum Z. Dhanji Dennis M. Mishler Jeffrey E. Barrick
author_facet	Jenna C. McGuffey Dacia Leon Erum Z. Dhanji Dennis M. Mishler Jeffrey E. Barrick
author_sort	Jenna C. McGuffey
title	Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar
title_short	Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar
title_full	Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar
title_fullStr	Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar
title_full_unstemmed	Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar
title_sort	bacterial production of gellan gum as a do-it-yourself alternative to agar
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/3145de69c90548b281dd5a403ba311c6
work_keys_str_mv	AT jennacmcguffey bacterialproductionofgellangumasadoityourselfalternativetoagar AT dacialeon bacterialproductionofgellangumasadoityourselfalternativetoagar AT erumzdhanji bacterialproductionofgellangumasadoityourselfalternativetoagar AT dennismmishler bacterialproductionofgellangumasadoityourselfalternativetoagar AT jeffreyebarrick bacterialproductionofgellangumasadoityourselfalternativetoagar
_version_	1718428242405228544

Bacterial Production of Gellan Gum as a Do-It-Yourself Alternative to Agar

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