Katie CUR: Welcome back the wonderful Chondrichthyes Class

Hey Guys!

Let me reintroduce myself to all the new people joining us! My name is Katelyn DiGirolomo and I am currently double majoring in Marine Biology and Secondary Biology Education. I am apart of the Fischler Academy and the Dual Admission Program at Nova Southeastern. I am currently doing research at Daytona State College on hopefully devolving some type of antibiotic that will help prevent bacterial infections from happening in shark bite victims. In this post I  am going to present some of the information that I have found from the research I have come across and also the research phases I have to go to through to be able to get to the end goal.

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In early 2017 I came across some research that was done by a Nova Southeastern University Professor. He wanted to do  studies on Blacktip sharks, Carcharhinus limbatus,  on what bacteria was in their mouths and to see which of those possessed  multi-drug resistance. What he found was that 4% of the 19 samples he took where multi-drug resistant to the antibiotics. Nathan R Unger was able to run microbiological tests on the samples that were taken and was able to identify the bacteria that was collected. 

Blacktip Shark

Later on in 2017 I took an Oceanography class where we were told to think of some research to do  for the class. I thought back to the publication from Unger and wanted to build off of that. I wanted to start small and be able to build the project from start to finish with multiply species of sharks.

Here is how the phases of my research are going to work.

Phase 1

Collect usable  samples from various  East Coast sharks.

Phase 2

Run Microbiological tests to determine if the bacteria is Gram Positive or Gram negative

Phase 3

Do API tests to classify the bacteria.

Phase 4 

Find or Develop an antibiotic that works with the multi-resistant bacteria that is produced in sharks mouths

Right now I am in Phase 2 of my research. Isabella Storozkova,lab manager at Daytona State college, has been helping me in running the microbiological tests this week and we are waiting for the final tests to be done to be able to identify f the bacteria is Gram Positive or Gram Negative. Next week I will let you guys know the findings that we got from the plates so far.

Below I am attaching my abstract for this research that I am presenting at AGU this year. If you guys have any questions or are interested in learning more about my project don't hesitate to leave a comment or ask.

Also here is a link with an article on my research for In Motion.

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Introduction

There is a preconceived idea that sharks attack in order to feed. This could be no further from the truth. Over 400 species of sharks inhabit our waters, ranging from the 8-inch dwarf Lantershark to the 40-foot-long Whale Shark (WWF,2018). Out of that 400 species of sharks, 35 Species are known to have attacked humans at least once, and a dozen of them habitually do so. Sharks are carnivorous and eat fish and other larger animals including humans. Between 2001 and 2011 an average of 59% of shark attacks took place in U.S Waters, Florida being one of the top spots for them To happen in (Elert, 2012). The teeth on a shark are not its only weapons they possess. Sharks harbor deadly and even drug-resistant bacteria that can cause extreme damage to the person who was bitten by them. Gram Staining has been a known test that can differentiate two large groups of bacteria based on their different cell wall constituents (Bruckner,2016). This test has been used in previous studies following the bacteria that reside in a sharks mouth.

What is Known

Nathan R. Unger and Colleagues did a study on Isolated Bacteria found in Blacktips (Carcharhinus limbatus)

Majority of shark attacks on Florida beaches occur over on the Atlantic Ocean side in Volusia County (FloridaLife 2009)

Vibrio alginolyticus, Vibrio fluvialis, and Vibrio parahaemolyticus have been found in Great White Sharks that and common to infections in humans     (Burk,1996)

What is Unknown

What bacteria inhabits other shark species mouths

Which of these bacteria are harmful to humans

Scientific Question

Are there variations in the types of bacteria found in the mouth of sharks? What is the classification of  these bacteria?


Work Cited
6.Unger, Nathan R., et al. “Antibiotic Susceptibilities of Bacteria Isolated within the Oral Flora of Florida Blacktip Sharks: Guidance for Empiric Antibiotic Therapy.” PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, Aug. 2014, journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0104577.