This web page is devoted to the research that I have been doing since December 2003. My research title is titled "Comparison of Vesicle Production by Tetrahymena fed Novel Amoeba Pathogens." My research is under the advisory of Dr. Sharon Berk of the Tennessee Technological Water Center and in conjunction with Dr. Berk, we are performing various experiments with Legionella.
Dr. Sharon berk has been studying the species for the past twenty years and as of late, she has isolated two new different species of Legionella. The two new species are named LLAP-15 and LLAP-16, respectively for now (LLAP stands for legionella like amoeba pathogens). This is where I come into the picture in the research of Legionella. I am experimenting with these two new LLAP species to see if they behave in a similar fashion that Legionella pnuemophila would behave when fed to the ciliate Tetrahymena. If they behave in the similar fashion that the LP behaves, the two new species should be found in the expelled vesicles of the ciliates, still intact and viable.
www.legionella.org