Cooper Johnson

Title: Soil Collection 2

Date: September 5, 2018

Rationale: With a new group and a refined question, new soil was collected to begin the process for discovering a phage to answer the proposed question.

Materials: 15-mL vial, bag

Question: Is there a difference in Arthrobacterphage in natural, live oak trees at Baylor versus planted trees in developed areas (surrounded by concrete, etc.)?

Procedure: Groups 3 and 4 worked together to formulate the new question and then split up to acquire the soil. Group 3 sampled dirt from natural, live oak trees while Group 4 sampled from various planted trees. My selected tree was on the northern side of Teal Residential College. It is the second tree from the corner and has a “no parking” sign near it. I observed the tree to make sure it would make for a fitting sample, dug approximately 5 inches into the dirt, and collected the sample for future washing. I then picked leaves from the tree for identification and further analyzation.

Observations/Conclusions: The tree appeared to be healthy and appropriately aged; no anomalies stood out that would discount the tree or soil from being a suitable sample. The patch of dirt that the tree was rooted in was surrounded by a concrete sidewalk. There were occasional patches of brown leaves, but nothing significant. However, browning leaves were found almost exclusively on the street side at the bottom of the canopy. The dirt will be washed and tested for a phage next week. Attached are pictures of the tree and its surroundings.

Previous Results- The direct plaque assay returned negative. The spots pictured were determined to be a top agar split, and not a plaque. The newly collected dirt will be tested for a new phage on Monday.