Honors Theses and Capstones

Date of Award

Spring 2022

Project Type

Senior Honors Thesis

College or School

COLSA

Department

Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences

Program or Major

Biomedical Science: Medical Microbiology

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

First Advisor

Elizabeth Harvey

Abstract

This Senior Thesis project aimed to be able to screen samples that came in from a PhD student in Georgia for the presence of two oyster diseases, MSX and Dermo. This study was done using PCR followed by visualizing on E-gels for initial presence of disease. These were then followed by qPCR and visualization on Criterion gels. These Criterion gels were able to be analyzed in order to calculate the pg/uL of MSX and Dermo in the original ocean samples. Since the samples were sent in over the course of February-August ‘21 the presence over time was also able to be tracked. It was shown that the diseases are either present in less high volumes or absent entirely in the earlier winter months, with an increase in rates in the spring and summer. They showed that the diseases are mostly prevalent in the spring months.

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