Which E Coli strain can effect mealworms?

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anokhi
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Which E Coli strain can effect mealworms?

Post by anokhi »

I am participating a science fair and needed some help. My topic is: Are acai berries or blueberries better for the immune system? My experiment: First, I am going to get meal worms and separate them into 2 bins. Then, add acai berries to one group's diet and blueberries to the other's. Finally, I will infect both the bins of worms with E Coli and record how they react. My question for you: What E Coli strain is safe for humans to handle, but can infect mealworms?

I am in seventh grade and this is my first time participating in a science fair.
jtrobins
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Re: Which E Coli strain can effect mealworms?

Post by jtrobins »

Anokhi,

This is an interesting idea to test that makes for a very good science project because you have a testable hypothesis. The hypothesis centers around the effect of berries on the immune system (for meal worms), and the test is to look at the survival rate when a stress is applied to the meal worms (i.e. how many meal worms are alive vs. dead).

It seems you want to use E Coli as the stress which will test how strong the immune system of the meal worms is. There are non-pathogenic strains of E Coli that are used in labs, and a science teacher at your school may be able to help you obtain such strains and run the experiment. However, have you thought of easier ways to test the meal worms immune system? There are a number of chemical means (sprays, powders, etc.) that can be used to stop a meal worm infestation. You could obtain these, find out how much you need to add to start to kill off meal worms (but not kill them all!) and then run your test. Several years ago, a similar project was proposed on these forums (viewtopic.php?f=28&t=6864) and the experts pointed out a website that gives excellent details on meal worms, including what chemicals can kill meal worms(http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/liv ... alworm.htm).

One thing to note is that when you run the experiment, you will need two control groups. The first control group is one that sees how the meal worms survive with the stress you apply when they have neither acai nor blueberries in their diet. The second, less important control, is to see how the meal worms survive without any stress nor any berries, just to make sure their isn't some unknown factor that is causing mealworm death.

Let me know if you have further questions about this!
SciB
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Re: Which E Coli strain can effect mealworms?

Post by SciB »

Hi,

That's a great project with an interesting question. The only problem with your experiment is that E coli bacteria are specific for mammals and won't infect a worm. Also, the immune system of an insect is very different from that of humans and other higher animals.

Why did you choose mealworms as your test subject? Acai berries and blue berries both contain antioxidants and other substances that may have health benefits, but measuring their effects on the immune system using an insect may not be possible without access to an advanced research lab.

I am assuming that you are interested in seeing if antioxidant foods can make the mealworms' immune system stronger. I did a search for this and found several hits, all rather technical and not especially useful. Here's an example: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... aQ&cad=rja

One thing I did learn was that the mealworms which are the larvae of the Tenebrio beetle can be infected by soil fungi and bacteria. I'm not sure how you would do this but you could set up three batches of mealworms in dirt (use soil from the woods not packaged garden soil which may be sterile). One group would be fed with acai berries, one with blueberries and the last with something neutral like lettuce, or maybe nothing at all.

My assumption is that woods soil contains a mix of bacteria and fungi, one of which may infect mealworms. If you were working in a research lab you would add a small amount of a specific fungus or bacterium to the soil but I don't know where you could get a culture of such an organism.

What you will be looking for in this experiment is how well the mealworms survive and how many pupae and beetles they produce. You will have to count the number of mealworms that you add so each bin gets the same number.

I have no idea if this will work. Maybe one of the other experts can come up with another way to measure immune response using insects.

Good luck!

Sybee
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