Overall, the results of these experiments provided the desired overview of Pseudomonas fluorescens as well as giving insight into the importance of adaptive radiation and biofilms. The initial results showed that as expected the diversity of both the wrinkly spreader and smooth strains generally increased over time both arising from the wrinkly strain and the smooth strain. While the data for this experiment was gathered from a larger group of laboratory studies, the overall trend remained the same, and the larger data collection was used to help remove some of the variability present. The trend of increase followed a logistic growth curve which may indicate the static culture had reached its carrying capacity and some of the bacteria were …show more content…
This was tested using the competition assay, and the relative fitness values indicated that in all cases the strain which started as rarer was able to successfully invade the other strain. In addition, based on the relative values, the smooth strain was able to more successful at invading the wrinkly strains than the wrinkly strains were at invading the smooth strain. This indicated that smooth Pseudomonas fluorescens are generally stronger competitors than wrinkly spreaders although ultimately whichever strain was rarer to begin with had a fitness advantage. The reason that the smooth strain may be more competitive could be due to having a generally broader niche than the wrinkly spreaders which generally only appear in the biofilm …show more content…
While these results were largely inconclusive, they do indicate that by limiting the nutrients available to biofilm forming bacteria such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, it may be possible to reduce the ability of biofilm formation. This study takes a step in the correct direction of discovering which nutrients are important and how these nutrients may be altered to prevent harmful biofilm formation. Beyond this research, it may be possible to investigate how the addition or adjustment of other nutrients in the King’s B Media might affect the biofilm formation of Pseudomonas fluorescens or other biofilm forming bacteria. As this research expands, the research will become more applicable to limiting biofilm formation on medical devices to prevent patient