Vibrio fischeri

Alongside this, I'm also interested in the role of the bacteria in this process. The physical flows are just one key aspect of the symbiosis process. The bacteria have co-evolved with the squid to employ various strategies to position themselves in the optimal location. Once the flows deposit them in the correct location, Vibrio bacteria form a symbiotic aggregate, a type of biofilm, on the surface of the light organ. This aggregate eventually disperses, and the bacteria must then swim to the light organ's pores, where, upon arrival, they are stored by the squid for its entire lifespan. This process involves swimming, aggregate formation, chemical sensing, and more! The bacteria living in the ocean cannot solely rely on this process to find a home. Instead, they must balance having the skillset to perform these tasks with maintaining the skillset needed to live without the squid. This presents the interesting question of how they make this trade-off. I have worked with Daravuth Cheam and Professor Michelle "Nish" Nishiguchi to investigate this topic. By subjecting planktonic bacteria across generations to external stresses, then studying post-treatment squid infection, we're exploring the role of trade-offs in their symbiotic relationship. My role in this work has been to apply statistical and mathematical modelling techniques to examine the experimental outputs and utilise optimal design to identify the key aspects driving these systems.