Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello this Krishna
We actually know that bacteria evolute according to the climatic conditions like temp. Is there any activity to prove it. I need it for my science fair project.
Thank u.

Hi Krishna,

Evolution depends on DNA mutations and there are many things that can cause this in bacteria--UV in sunlight, chemicals in the water and viruses. Mutations are not preserved unless the bacteria are exposed continuously to something that favors the mutated individuals. If a bacterium mutates to become resistant to an antibiotic then as long as that antibiotic is present in the environment, the mutated bacteria will thrive and the non-mutated ones will die.

I am not sure what your question is or if I am answering it, so I will wait for another post with a better explanation of what you are looking for.

Sybee

SciB wrote:Hi Krishna,

Evolution depends on DNA mutations and there are many things that can cause this in bacteria--UV in sunlight, chemicals in the water and viruses. Mutations are not preserved unless the bacteria are exposed continuously to something that favors the mutated individuals. If a bacterium mutates to become resistant to an antibiotic then as long as that antibiotic is present in the environment, the mutated bacteria will thrive and the non-mutated ones will die.

I am not sure what your question is or if I am answering it, so I will wait for another post with a better explanation of what you are looking for.

Sybee

Thank u Sybee
Actually I need a practical observation of bacteria mutating to the environmental changes. Which is required for my project which I am doing at present.
Krishna

What do you mean by 'practical'? There are plenty of examples of harmful bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus (SA) mutating to become resistant to penicillin and other drugs. These multiply resistant bacteria (MRSA) can be deadly in a hospital.

What bacteria are you thinking of? What environment--the soil, the ocean, a human? Bacteria are found everywhere and their DNA undergoes mutation in response to chemicals or radiation. Most mutations don't change anything. A few result in death of the bacteria. Some. like those that allow SA to survive antibacterial drugs are 'practical' for the bacterium but harmful to humans.

One very interesting environment is the human gut. This part of the intestine contains a huge population of bacteria that are mostly beneficial:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21682646
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4566439/
What a person eats has a great effect on their gut bacteria and this in turn can affect their health. If you do a search for 'mutations gut microbiome' you can find lots of examples of changes in the bacteria and what it may mean to our health. This is a very important and potentially very useful area of research that affects everyone.

Hope this helps.

Sybee