Author: Emily  Marie  McLaughlin

Major: Microbiology

Graduation Year: 2021

Thesis Advisor: Edward Bernard

Description of Publication: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic pathogen which can cause a variety of infections, especially in immunocompromised individuals. It has recently been found that black soldier flies can act as carriers for S. maltophilia (Callegari et al., 2020). I have investigated how probiotics impact their vector capabilities. Black soldier fly larvae have been fed substrate spiked with S. maltophilia. After several days of feeding, the larvae were investigated by PCR and plating (Sveensson-Stadler et al., 2011). Two groups of larvae were fed with potatoes infected with S. maltophilia. Persistence of S. maltophilia was determined using PCR by taking samples from days 0, 3 and 6. This research could clarify the role that black soldier flies play in potentially reducing this public health threat.

Location of Publication:

URL to Thesis: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/714