The Age Effect on Salmonella enterica Induce Mortality in Caenorhabditis elegans

Salmonella has been known to cause illnesses across the United States. The severity of the infection is based on age and overall health of the innate immune system. Caenorhabditis elegans has been shown to be infected with Salmonella enterica and can age quickly, which makes it a good model organism for aging studies. This study tests 3 different ages (day 1, day 3 and day 5) of C. elegans with 7 different S. enterica serovars. Each age group was infected with either Escherichia coli OP50 or S. enterica serovar. The plates were checked twice a day until there were no more surviving C. elegans. The time of death in hours was determined for each age and bacteria. The median survival +/- standard error post infection of each age and bacteria was calculated. The main effect of age, bacteria and age with bacteria was calculated. Each serovar tested revealed decrease

in the life span of the C. elegans, however age did not show a significant effect on the life span of C. elegans. To gain more knowledge if aging effects the life span of C. elegans,

older ages need to be tested. Also, other bacteria can be tested to determine if aging effects induced mortality.