Looking for Bacteria

August 14, 2008 1:52 PM

Which strains of (harmless) bacteria are most susceptible to radiation?

Looking for a good choice of bacteria for science fair experiments, where good means harmless, accessible and easily killed by radiation.

posted by iconjack to science & nature (6 comments total)

What source of radiation do you have? If it's an actual radioactive source it will depend on the strength of the source, if you're going to microwave the little guys, then you're really just boiling them.
posted by Science! at 1:57 PM on August 14, 2008

Alternatively, if you're using UV radiation, look for something unpigmented that generally lives in the dark, and doesn't form endospores. I can't remember any specific species off the top of my head, but I bet you could find something among the normal flora of the human intestine.
posted by vytae at 2:06 PM on August 14, 2008

We may try several types but UV is definitely one of them.
posted by iconjack at 2:24 PM on August 14, 2008

Non-pathogenic strains of E. coli would suit this perfectly.
posted by minus zero at 6:29 PM on August 14, 2008

While they are expensive, many of the E. coli strains that are sold for use in cloning are typically mutated so that certain DNA repair pathways are non-functional (so that they don't try to "repair" complex viral and eukaryotic DNA sequences). These would all also have the advantage of being totally harmless and non-pathogenic.
posted by The Bishop of Turkey at 6:09 AM on August 15, 2008

Any universities in your area? If they run a microbiology lab for undergraduates you might be able to get a suitable starter culture from them.
posted by Quietgal at 7:55 AM on August 15, 2008