E. Carr Everbach
Inder R. S. Makin
Amy Cheng Vollmer
Dept. of Eng. and Biol., Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1397
The interaction of intense ultrasound with bacteria has implications for
improving fundamental understanding in biology and bioacoustics, as well as
providing possible applications in water purification and medicine. An
investigation will be presented of the effects of acoustic cavitation on E.coli
bacteria that have been genetically engineered to emit visible light when
subjected to physical or chemical stress. Genetic cloning techniques allow the
placement of the lux gene, derived from luminescent marine microorganisms, at
specific locations in bacterial DNA. Each placement location yields light
production in proportion to the repair mechanism employed by the bacteria in
response to specific kinds of stress (oxidative damage, DNA damage, membrane
damage, protein damage, thermal damage, etc.). A 20-MHz passive acoustic
detector [abstract, Huertas et al.,