ERIC Number: EJ1425249
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1470-8175
EISSN: EISSN-1539-3429
Multi-Focused Laboratory Experiments Based on Quorum Sensing and Quorum Quenching for Acquiring Microbial Physiology Concepts
Mariela Analía Torres; Alejandra Leonor Valdez; Carolina de Lourdes Olea; María Fernanda Figueroa; Carlos Gabriel Nieto-Peñalver
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, v52 n3 p359-368 2024
After a time away from the classrooms and laboratories due to the global pandemic, the return to teaching activities during the semester represented a challenge to both teachers and students. Our particular situation in a Microbial Physiology course was the necessity of imparting in shorter time, laboratory practices that usually take longer. This article describes a 2-week-long laboratory exercise that covers several concepts in an interrelated way: conjugation as a gene transfer mechanism, regulation of microbial physiology, production of secondary metabolites, degradation of macromolecules, and biofilm formation. Utilizing a Quorum Quenching (QQ) strategy, the Quorum Sensing (QS) system of "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" is first attenuated. Then, phenotypes regulated by QS are evidenced. QS is a regulatory mechanism of microbial physiology that relies on signal molecules. QS is related in "P. aeruginosa" to several virulence factors, some of which are exploited in the laboratory practices presented in this work. QQ is a phenomenon by which QS is interrupted or attenuated. We utilized a QQ approach based on the enzymatic degradation of the "P. aeruginosa" QS signals to evidence QS-regulated traits that are relevant to our Microbial Physiology course. Results obtained with the same test performed by a random group of students before and after the activities show the positive effectiveness of the approach presented in this work.
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Science Laboratories, Physiology, Microbiology, Science Experiments, Laboratory Experiments, Scientific Concepts, Program Effectiveness
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A