Abstract
Containing over 90 genera of environmental bacteria, Flavobacteriacae is the largest family in the Bacteroidetes phylum. Within this family is Cellulophaga lytica (C. lytica), an iridescent species of gram-negative, rod-shaped, marine bacteria. C. lytica’s ability to self assemble into structures that reflect light at different wavelengths leads to its iridescent properties. Previous studies have demonstrated that organization via gliding is the main contributor to the observed pointillistic iridescence in the absence of any iridophores. Despite having its genome fully sequenced almost a decade ago, this bacteria species has not yet been extensively studied. Currently, little is known about the genes related to its unique gliding motility or the genetic mechanisms that allow C. lytica to self-assemble and produce iridescence. We hypothesized that the disruption or control of C. lytica’s gliding motility may lead to controllable changes in its displayed iridescence. By analyzing and adapting genetic techniques developed in related Flavobacteriacae bacteria, the goal of this research was to construct a genetic engineering platform that can be used to study and control the genetic mechanisms related to iridescence and gliding motility in C. lytica. In addition, the effect of culture modifications on C. lytica’s iridescence and several bacterial patterning techniques were explored. Biparental conjugation and electroporation procedures were adapted in an effort to introduce plasmids into C. lytica. Overall, this study lays the groundwork to create a novel genetic engineering platform in C. lytica. The information gathered by modifying C. lytica culture conditions and analyzing biofilm thickness will strengthen the understanding of the iridescent properties of the DSM 7489 strain of C. lytica. Additionally, the various bacterial patterning techniques developed throughout this study will be essential when creating biomaterials or biosensors based on C. lytica. In the future, potential applications of this work range from the fabrication of large-scale iridescent biomaterials to programmable colorimetric biosensors.