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ABSTRACTS
and PROGRAM
Twelfth Semi-Annual Scientific
Meeting
of
The Saddleback College
Biological Sciences Society
8 May 2015
Room 313 SM
Saddleback College
Schedule of Oral Presentations
Spring 2015 Semi-Annual Meeting
of the
Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society
8 May 2015 SM 313 0815-1400
0815-0845
0850-0900
0910-0920
Refreshments and Load Presentations
OPENING COMMENTS
Effect of Fire on the Concentration of Mycorrhizae on the Roots of Artemisia
californica
The Removal of Coliform Bacteria by Opuntia ficus-indica Cactus Mucilage
0920-0930
Responsiveness of Physarum polycephalum to Various Wavelengths of Light
0930-0940
The Effect of Gravity on Taproot Growth in Raphanus sativa (Cherry Belle
Radishes)
The Effects of the Artificial Sweetener Sucralose on the Body Mass Index and
Activity Level of Mus musculus
The Effect of Antioxidant Rich Foods on the Lifespan of the Drosophila
melanogaster
BREAK
The Effect of Wildfires on the Prevalence of Mistletoe (Phoradendron villosum)
Infection on Scrub oak (Quercus berberidifolia) and Laurel-Sumac (Malosma
laurina)
The Effect of Temperature on Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) & Bacterial
Growth on Water Samples Taken From Aliso Creek River in California
0900-0910
0940-0950
0950-1000
1000-1020
1020-1030
1030-1040
1040-1050
The Effect of Visible Color On Food Choice in Mice (Mus musculus)
1050-1100
The Effect of Black Mulch, Red Mulch and Mylar Mulch on the Growth of
Tomato Plants, Solanum lycopersicum
Allelopathic Effects of Wild Mustards (Brassica spp.) on Germination in
Wheatgrass, Common Bean, and Radishes
The Effect of Sodium Hypochlorite on Germination in Garden Beans
1100-1110
1110-1120
1120-1300
The Effect of Elevation on the Time to Exhaustion in Western Fence Lizards,
Sceloporus occidentalis
1300-1310
The Effect of Ginkgo biloba and Centella asiatica on Memory and Learning in
Mice
Evaluation of Removal Treatment for Arundo donax from San Juan Creek
1320-1330
The Effect of Rootstock Leaf Traits on Graft Stock Leaves in Different Colored
Coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides) Plants
1330-1340
The Growth of Wheatgrass Triticum aestivum in recently burned and unburned
soils
1340-1350
Avoidance of Moribund Conspecifics by Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches,
Gromphadorhina portentosa
Clean-up, Group Photo
1350-1400
Michael Ricketts, Jordan
Jorge and Sean Houlihan
Pedram Matinsefat,
Pegah Nejad Mohtashemi
and Amir Katiraei
Matthew Fournier,
Maddy Tran and Tina
Dibayi
Neda Afkhami, Madonna
Mitri and Nwahil Idris
Adam Rey, Joy Oveson
and Libby Ward
Matthew Jackson and
John Rey
LUNCH BREAK & POSTER PRESENTATIONS
1130-1300
1310-1320
Edwin Molina, Alexandra
Frankovich and Jisoo Lee
Ryan Thaliffdeen, Sherry
Gobran and Emily Pham
Alex Watson and Troy
Melander
Christina Brady, Alyssa
Ruelos and Vivian Trang
Maggie Rubens, Negar
Rad
Kamyar Jafari and Kevin
Cheng
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
Page 2 of 10
Jessica Ballard, Nicole
Iribarren and Melika
Ghalehei
Honeyeh Azimi and
Daniela Cavallo
Madison Dixson and
Amber Arvizu
Cole Fassino, Luke
Fassino and Connor
Toohey
Alex DeGroy, Corinne
Eickhof and Mark
Gonzales
Yusef Ibreighith and
Derek Perez
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
Page 3 of 10
BIOLOGY 3A POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
SPRING 2015
The meeting organizers do not assume responsibility for any inconsistencies in quality or errors in abstract
information. Abstracts are in numerical order according to the abstract number assigned to each presentation.
Note: author name(s) and abstract titles were printed directly from the abstract form without corrections. The presentation order was
determined by the order in which the emailed abstracts were received. Abstracts that did not conform to the guidelines are printed at the
end of all abstracts
1. THE COMPARISON OF THE ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECTS OF PURE TEA TREE OIL AND LOTION
WITH TEA TREE OIL ON STAPHYLOCCOCCUS AUREUS. Vida Hamidi, Stevie White, Yasmin
Ghammaeghami, and Erica Garcia. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo,
CA 92692
Staphylococcus aureus has become increasingly resistant to antibiotics. One approach to fighting against S.
aureus is by using essential oils like tea tree oil. This study’s purpose was to determine if there was a statistical
difference in the antibacterial effects of pure tea tree oil and lotion with tea tree oil on S. aureus. A
spectrophotometer was used to measure absorbance and percent transmittance of bacteria growth in tea tree oil and
lotion with tea tree oil. Absorbance and percent transmittance were used to calculate optical density, which
correlated to the amount of bacteria present. The mean optical density ± standard error for the control (1.0003 ±
0.000387), oil (0.9992 ± 0.000255), and lotion (0.9997 ± 0.005278) reveal that the lotion and oil had similar and
lower mean densities compared to the control’s higher mean density. Therefore, there was no statistical difference
in the antibacterial effects between tea tree oil and lotion with tea tree oil (p = 0.97 ANOVA: single factor). This
experiment implicates lotion with tea tree oil could be used as an antibacterial agent against S. aureus.
2. THE EFFECT OF GREEN TEA ON HUMAN BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS. Zahra Abbasi, Sara Ali, Lili
Ravazi, and Shadi Zarif. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Green tea contains non-oxidized polyphenols, catechins, which are effective in prevention of glucose-related
diseases in animals and humans. It is predicted that the consumption of green tea will lower human blood glucose
levels. Ten fasting individuals were tested for their blood glucose levels before and after consumption of green tea
with a bagel and water with a bagel (control); the change of blood glucose levels for each variable was further
analyzed. The mean change of blood glucose levels for the consumption of green tea with bagel was 40.3 7.97
mg/dL and 46.5 6.08 mg/dL for consumption of water with bagel ( SEM, p = 0.27, one tailed t-test). The
results showed, similar initial blood glucose levels before consumption of green tea with bagel and water with
bagel (control), however the final glucose levels were lower after consumption of green tea, though not
statistically. According to statistical analysis, there is no difference in glucose levels when consuming green tea.
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
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3. EFFECTS OF CAPSAICIN IN SERRANO PEPPER (Capsicum annum) ON CORTISOL LEVELS. Maryam
Evini, Diane Kwon, Rachel Lee and Sammy Shamlou. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College,
Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Cortisol, a hormone produced in response to stress, starts high a t the beginning of the day and gradually
decreases, slightly fluctuating throughout the day. This study focused on the effects of capsaicin on cortisol levels
of participants who self-reported disliking spiciness and participants who self-reported liking spiciness. While
cortisol levels were expected to rise in both groups, it was expected that participants who dislike spiciness would
produce greater levels of cortisol than those who claimed to like spiciness. To determine whether capsaicin, the
spicy component of peppers, had any effect on cortisol levels, participants provided saliva samples before and five
minutes after consuming ¼ teaspoon serrano pepper paste. Samples were collected between 8 AM and 10 AM on
two consecutive days. The mean change in cortisol concentration of the participants who dislike spiciness was 0.44
pg/mL, while the mean change in cortisol concentration of the participants who like spiciness was 0.18 pg/mL. The
cortisol concentration of participants who dislike spiciness (n=4) was not significantly different than that of
participants who like spiciness (n=4; p=0.06). Participants showed decreased cortisol levels regardless of their
preference for spiciness.
4. THE EFFECT OF SALT AND TURMERIC ON THE PRESERVATION OF RAW CHICKEN MEAT. Daria
Nahidipour, Elahe Khodabandeh, Melissa Martinez, Sierra Mazzarini. Department of Biological Sciences,
Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
There are several ways bacteria and other micro-organisms can come into contact with the meat throughout the
meat production chain. Effective preservation methods of meat can significantly reduce the amount of bacteria, and
using natural preservation methods can prevent illness. In this study, treatments of either salt or turmeric were
used on raw chicken breast meat. Turmeric has antimicrobial properties while salt protects meat from spoiling
quickly due to reduction in water retention. The investigators predicted that the table salt would be the more
effective way of reducing bacterial growth than turmeric. After spicing cubes of raw chicken, they were placed in
sterile water then diluted six times and the final solution was used for the pour plate method. The results from the
bacterial count showed the chicken with turmeric had a mean colony count of 148.4 ± 123.97 (±SEM). Salted
chicken had a mean colony count of 0.2 ± 1.79 (±SEM). There was a statistically significant difference in the
bacterial count of the turmeric compared to the salt (p=0.0141, one-tailed paired t-test). Therefore, the results
supported the hypothesis that salt would be the more effective preservative and slow bacterial growth.
5. CORTISOL LEVEL CHANGES AFTER INGESTING MILK AND DARK CHOCOLATE. Monica Vivar,
Zack Stamford, Michael Kunicki and Samantha Castro. Dept. of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, 28000
Marguerite Pkwy, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Levels of stress in humans can be determined by observing concentrations of cortisol, which is a major
glucocorticoid produced in the adrenal gland. Chocolate contains ingredients that trigger the release of βendorphins, the “feel good” chemical in the brain, which has been shown to be inversely related with hormones
like cortisol (Taylor et al., 1983). This study sought to observe that milk and dark chocolate would release similar
amounts of β-endorphins and no difference in either’s ability to lower cortisol levels was expected. Since cortisol
concentrations are easily determined through saliva, each subject (n=10) provided a 2mL sample of saliva before
chocolate consumption, and an additional 2mL after 1 hour of consumption of approximately 12g of milk
chocolate. The same procedure was performed for dark chocolate on a separate day. Initial and final samples were
examined through a salivary assay test. Mean concentration of cortisol after consuming milk chocolate decreased
by 0.3073 pg/mL (± 0.08702 pg/mL). After consuming dark chocolate, cortisol levels increased by 0.0003930
pg/mL (± 0.02502 pg/mL). This revealed a large difference between cortisol levels after the consumption of milk
and dark chocolate (p= 0.003204, two-tailed paired t-test).
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
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6. THE EFFECT OF GOLDFISH EXCREMENT ON THE GERMINATION RATE OF BASIL SEEDS.
Andrew Favor, Patrick Stumps, Felicia Vo, and David Atta. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback
College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Aquaponic systems utilize a symbiotic relationship between plants and aquatic animals wherein plants ingest
nutrients from the excretory matter produced by the aquatic animals; this purifies the surrounding water, and thus
promotes a healthy environment for the animals, while the plants receive the necessary nutrients for their own
growth and function. This experiment sought to examine whether water containing fish excrement actually
promoted germination rates of basil, Ocimum basilicum. Excretory matter produced by fish contains nitrates and
nitrites, which promote plant growth, but also contains ammonia, which can inhibit plant growth. Basil seeds were
left to germinate in varying concentration ratios of water containing fish excrement vs. tap water; each group’s
water was tested for a range of compounds characteristic of fish excrement. Rates of germination were found to be
highest in groups containing between 25-50% tank water. However, analysis with a one-way ANOVA showed
that there was no significant difference between the rates of sprouting between groups. These results suggest that
germination rates increase with increasing nitrite concentrations, but simultaneously decrease with increasing
ammonia concentrations.
7. MEASURING THE DIFFERENCES IN CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATION AND CHANGES IN
HEART RATE BETWEEN PHYSICALLY TRAINED ATHLETES AND NON-ATHLETES. Irving Granados,
Amin Sharif, Kia Rastegar and Zayd Yunus. Department of Biological Science, Saddleback College, Mission
Viejo, CA 92692.
There are significant distinctions amongst physically fit individuals and non-physically fit individuals, which
are correlated with the different levels of physical activity that each distinct group carries out. The study examines
the changes in heart rate as well as the changes in carbon dioxide amongst physically trained individuals and nonphysically trained individuals by performing a 400-meter sprint, and testing at resting and active states under the
same conditions. The mean heart rate before and after exercise for physically trained individuals were 54.2 ± 1.56
to 132.8 ± 3.28 bpm while the before and after for non-physically trained individuals were 79.4 ± 1.81 to 160.0 ±
4.01 bpm. Average carbon dioxide production levels before and after for physically trained individuals were
8289.73 ± 1051.06 to 11,439.06.19 ± 1,010.01 mL CO2/kg while the before and after for non-physically trained
individuals were 16,241.21 ± 2019.41 to 22,854.86± 2,382.39 mL CO2/kg. These differences of the changes in
heart rate and carbon dioxide amongst the two distinct groups are great indicators that the amount of physical
activity performed has an influence on overall physiological markers.
8. EFFECTS OF SKIPPING BREAKFAST ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN COLLEGE STUDENTS. Poupak
Fakhrai, Julanar Selman and David Yu. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite
Pkwy, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Breakfast habits may have an effect on cognitive function and consequently on students’ performance in college.
It was predicted that an increase in glucose levels caused by eating breakfast would enhance cognitive ability in
college students. The relationship between a fed or fasted state and subjects' outcomes on tests were investigated.
Ten subjects were tested on two different occasions, either fasted or following breakfast. The initial test measured
short-term memory through number recall. A series of numbers were read out, and subjects wrote down the
numbers and sequence recalled. Short-term memory was not affected in a significantly different way between fasted
or fed state (p=0.847 two-tailed paired t-test). Reaction rates were measured via computer program from The
Human Benchmark© program (Humanbenchmark.com). Subjects were asked to press the screen as it changed from
red to green color. Ten measurements were recorded per participant and a mean value was reported for each
subject. Reaction rates were faster in the fasted state (p=1.8 x 10-4 one-tailed paired t-test). These results suggest
that skipping breakfast does not have adverse effects on cognitive function in college students and in some cases
might even be advantageous.
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
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9. EFFECT OF FRESHLY SQUEEZED VS. PROCESSED ORANGE JUICE ON BLOOD SUGAR
CONCENTRATION. Kim Maldonado, Gabriel Gamo, Jonathan Hari, and Sean Johnson. Department of
Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Nine percent of adults aged eighteen and over have diabetes worldwide, and quick remedies to regulate blood
sugar levels are key (WHO 2015). Oranges are known to raise blood sugar levels by a considerable margin,
making them prime candidates for a temporary boost. The general population of society has an assumption that
processed orange juice contains a higher sugar concentration compared to all natural orange juice due to the
preparation of the juice and the additional artificial ingredients. Therefore, it was predicted that processed orange
juice would raise blood sugar levels a larger amount than freshly squeezed orange juice. Ten subjects fasted for 810 hours and an initial blood sugar reading was taken. Subjects drank 500 mL of freshly squeezed orange juice,
and 15 minutes later, a final reading was taken. The same procedure was repeated, but with 500 mL of processed
orange juice. The difference in blood sugar concentrations between the ten subjects were averaged for freshly
squeezed (31 ± 5.12 mg/dL) and processed orange juice (32.6 ± 4.53 mg/dL). Processed orange juice does not
raise blood sugar levels more than freshly squeezed orange juice (p = 0.383, paired t-test for means).
10. THE OSMOREGULATORY EFFECT OF FRESHWATER AND SALTWATER ON THE METABOLISM
OF MOLLY FISH (Poecilia sphenops). Cyrus Taheri, Pasha Mazboudi, Natasha Mazboudi, and Samyar Attarian.
Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, 28000 Marguerite Pkwy, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Osmoregulation is an organism’s ability to regulate the osmotic pressure of their internal fluids. The bodily
fluids are prevented from exceeding fatal concentration levels that would otherwise adversely affect biochemistry.
Most fish are stenohaline and restricted to particular saline concentrations. The Mexican Molly fish (P.sphenops) is
a euryhaline species that maintains homeostasis in various salinities. Since osmoregulation is dependent on gill
activity, it is proposed that the process requires expenditure of additional energies for ion regulation. This will
subsequently cause a variation in the fish’s metabolism. Subjects were placed in a <1% and 3% saline solution for
one hour respectively. The mean operculum rate of each solution was compared along with its respective
osmolality. The 1% salinity displayed a decreasing trend in the operculum rate while the 3% salinity exhibited
fluctuations with a slightly higher trend (p=0.769414). There was a minor osmolality difference between the 1%
and 3% saline solutions due to higher concentrations of NaCl being used (p=0.49076817). The results suggest that
there is no significant difference for the observation of an osmoregulatory effect for the metabolism of the
P.sphenops under various salinities.
11. THERMOTOLERANCES OF ENCYSTED AND HYDRATED ARTEMIA NYOS. Natalie Karapetian, Maria
Cuevas, and Kinza Qureshi. Department of Biological Sciences. Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
As a response to decreases in environmental humidity, Artemia nyos form cysts and enter an ametabolic state
known as anhydrobiosis until environmental humidity is sufficient to rehydrate the cysts and metabolic processes
resume. Anhydrobiotic cysts are tolerant to high doses of UV radiation and extreme temperatures, leading to the
prediction that the thermotolerance of Artemia nyos in the cystic form (desiccated) will be higher than in the
hydrated form. Individual samples of hydrated and cystic Artemia were exposed to a controlled temperature (20ºC,
60ºC, 80ºC, or 100ºC) for 45 minutes and hatching success rates were calculated one week later. Hatching success
rates in desiccated cysts at temperatures 60ºC, 80ºC, and 100ºC are higher than hatching success rates in hydrated
cysts at the same temperatures (p=0.0002, unpaired one-tailed t-test). There was no difference between hatching
success rates across all temperatures tested for cystic Artemia (p=0.2536, ANOVA) while there was a difference in
hatching success rates between the control (20ºC) and the other temperatures tested (60ºC, 80ºC, 100ºC) for
hydrated samples (t=7.348, Bonferroni post-hoc), showing that encysted Artemia nyos has a higher
thermotolerance than that of hydrated Artemia.
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
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12. EFFECT OF MULBERRY LEAF (Morus alba) EXTRACT ON FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS
AND POSTPRANDIAL BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS. Lucas Johnson, Mounes Rokhideh, Kathleen Trear, and
Kara Kirkpatrick. Department of Biological Sciences, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
Mulberry leaf extract contains a molecule that has been reported to suppress a carbohydrate-digesting enzyme
reducing a surge in blood glucose levels following the consumption of sugars. It was predicted that consumption of
mulberry leaf extract will lower both fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels. Fifteen Saddleback College
students had their fasting blood glucose measured before and fifteen minutes after consuming a breakfast high in
sugars. Mean fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels on the first day of the study were 84.271.02 mg/dL and
105.602.97 mg/dL - a mean increase of 21.333.01 mg/dL. Mean fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels on
the fourteenth day were 85.671.43 mg/dL and 119.875.14 mg/dL - a mean increase of 34.205.32 mg/dL. There was
no statistical difference in fasting blood glucose levels after fourteen days of supplementation (p=0.22, paired onetailed t-test). There was a significant increase in postprandial blood glucose after supplementation (p=0.02, paired
one-tailed t-test).
13. EFFECT OF CARDIO AND WEIGHTLIFTING IN FAT LOSS WITH ACTIVE MALE GYM MEMBERS.
Jason Rabahieh. Hannah Dieter. Annette Masihi and Arpi Azaryan. Department of Biological Sciences,
Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692
The main purpose of this experiment is to examine if weightlifting exercise is burning more body fat than
cardio exercise. For conducting this experiment a group of six male gym members were asked to voluntarily
participate in the study. Participants were put on a 500 calorie deficit diet where three of the participants were
asked to perform cardio exercise and the other three were asked to perform weightlifting exercises six days a week
for two weeks. Their body fat level was measured using fat clippers in the beginning, the end of first week, and
then the second week. After the measurements were done the results of the experiment showed that weightlifting is
more associated with burning fat than cardio exercise (p-value 0.406, one tailed t-test). On average, participants
who did weightlifting exercises lost more body fat (8.20 ± 12.46, ± SEM) than that of the participants who
performed cardio exercises (7.47 ± 11.73, ± SEM). The results of the experiments showed that there was a
difference in the amount of body fat burned, concluding that weightlifting is ideal for losing fat and maintaining
muscle.
14. THE EFFECTS OF WATER TEMPERATURE ON GROWTH OF MASS IN= POTATOES (Solanum
tuberosum).Sean R. Loh,Wei W. Gan, and Jared R. Brown. Department of Biology, Saddleback College, Mission
Viejo, CA, 92692 United States.
As climate change becomes a more pressing issue among the scientific community, the effects influenced
by changing temperatures are also beginning to surface. Crops may begin to be affected by increasing air and water
temperatures, which in turn affect their growth rates, crop yields, and availability in local markets around the
globe. Red potatoes grown at different water temperatures of 10oC, 20oC, and 30oC were weighed before and after
in order to determine how much of an impact temperature had on their growth by mass. Potatoes grown at all three
temperatures exhibited significant difference in growth rates at room temperature (120.875 ± 3.215, 123.925 ±
2.050, 118.7 ±2.556, g potatoes ±SEM, respectively), as compared to the mass before the start of the experiment
(121.25±2.151. 119.225±3.408, 119.875±2.507g potatoes ± SEM, respectively). These results appeared to be
influenced by the changes in air and water temperature and reflect the influence temperature can have on the
quality of crops and crop yields, which indicate that drastic changes in temperature may have an adverse effect on
the growth of certain crops over a longer period of time and on a larger scale.
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
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15. THE EFFECTS OF D-ASPARTIC ACID ON MALE BETTA SPLENDENS AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR.
Cordell Heckel, Erik Harris, Fayaz Arghandehwal, and Joel Tatum. Department of Biological Sciences,
Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA 92692.
The Siamese Fighting fish (Betta splendens) is a common pet fish colloquially known as the Betta. Male Betta
fish are well known for their natural aggression. According to research experiments on these fish, it has been
discovered that they will display aggressive behaviors such as rapid body movements, gill erections, and fin
erections when placed in front of a mirror or a visual representation of another male Betta. This study proposes that
an increased level of testosterone may arouse an increase in aggressive behaviors. In order to increase the levels of
testosterone in the fish, the experimenters dissolved appropriate amounts of D-aspartic acid into ten separate fish
containers containing one fish and 250 mL of distilled water. The average rapid body movements in male Betta
splendens were significantly greater with the D-aspartic acid (one tailed paired t-test P=0.040), while the average
active gill erection durations were not significantly different with the addition of D-aspartic acid (one tailed paired
t-test P=0.917). The average active fin erection durations were significantly greater with the D-aspartic acid (one
tailed paired t-test P=0.023).
16. THE GROWTH OF BACTERIA ON ORGANIC CHICKEN VERSUS CONVENTIONAL CHICKEN. Jiwoo
Choi, Leyli Beheshti, Nazila Karimi, and Katie McGuire. Department of Biological Science, Saddleback College,
Mission Viejo, CA 92692 USA
Raw poultry contains bacterial pathogens that cause illnesses. Organic chicken has been popular, because it
is perceived to be safer than conventional chicken. However, organic chickens can possess safety risks due to no
use of antimicrobials, and processing. The hypothesis was that organic chicken would show greater growth of
bacteria than conventional chicken. Twenty samples of organic chickens (n=10), and conventional chickens (n=10)
were used to cultivate bacteria on nutrient agar plates. The plates were incubated for 48 hours at 37°C. The mean
number of isolated bacterial colonies on organic chicken, 23.6 ± 4.287 (± SEM, N=10) was greater than those on
conventional chicken, 9.4 ± 2.45 (± SEM, N=10) (P= 0.0061 one-tailed t-test unpaired). The mean surface areas of
isolated bacterial colonies on each plate were 65.97 ± 12.20 mm2 (± SEM, N=10) on organic chicken and 51.06 ±
10.54 mm2 (± SEM, N=10) on conventional chicken. However, a one-tailed unpaired t-test (P=0.184) reveals no
significant difference in the surface areas of the two groups. Although there were more bacterial colonies on
organic chicken, the colonies were smaller and there was no statistical difference in the surface areas of bacteria
between the two groups.
Spring 2015 Annual Meeting Saddleback College Biological Sciences Society Abstracts and Program
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