Team:Penn/Magnetism

Relationship Between OD600 T2 for AMB-1

We attempted to explore the magnetic properties of AMB-1 as further understanding would prove AMB-1’s value as a chassis in bioremediation and other fields. We attempted to quantify the magnetic strength of AMB-1 (T2 time) and relate it to the cell concentration (OD600). To do so, we used a magnetic NMR machine (the minispec mq60, Bruker) to measure the T2 decay time of cell samples. A longer T2 time indicated fewer magnetic particles.

AMB-1 was grown under aerobic conditions to saturation. The culture was then serially diluted into ½, ¼ and 1/8 of the initial concentration. The OD600 and T2 time of all dilution samples was measured and then recorded in the table below (Table 4.1). One 1 mL of the cell sample was used for each measurement. MSGM media that does not contain bacteria was used as a blank for this experiment (the OD600 for the blank is 0).

Table 4.1- Relationship between OD600 and T2 for AMB-1

Achievement:

The cell concentration and magnetic strength showed a linear relationship (1T2 =0.0032x + 0.0015) with an R^2 value that was very close to one.