Date of Award

Spring 5-4-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Joan L. Slonczewski

Abstract

The fast-growing marine bacterium Vibrio natriegens is emerging as a promising candidate for bio-manufacturing. We conducted a batch culture evolution of V. natriegens ATCC14048 at pH 6.0 and 9.0 for 500 generations. Surprisingly, V. natriegens accumulated a greater number of mutations at pH 9.0 compared to pH 6.0. Several clones evolved at pH 9.0 exhibited decreased and slower growth compared to the ancestor at low pH. Additionally, nearly all mutations identified at pH 9.0 were nonsynonymous, indicating adaptive selection. More than half the clones evolved at pH 9.0 had mutations in dgc and/or pgm, although these mutations did not correspond to clear phenotypic differences. Unexpectedly, we identified two loss-of-function rpoS mutations (p.*71 and p.N123) in the V. natriegens parent strain. The nonsense mutation was documented in the ATCC genome, while the missense mutation was found in the NCBI genome (GCF_001456255.1). These two independent mutations suggest that laboratory cultivation may select against functional rpoS.

Rights Statement

All rights reserved. This copy is provided to the Kenyon Community solely for individual academic use. For any other use, please contact the copyright holder for permission.

Download

Share

COinS