Biodegradation of Bacillus anthracis endospores in compost

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dc.contributor.authorHarvey, Amanda J. D.
dc.contributor.authorUniversity of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
dc.contributor.supervisorSelinger, L. Brent
dc.contributor.supervisorMcAllister, Tim A.
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-09T19:04:53Z
dc.date.available2019-07-09T19:04:53Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.degree.levelMastersen_US
dc.description.abstractAnthrax, a lethal infectious disease affecting primarily herbivores, is caused by an endospore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis (BA). Endospores from BA are extremely stable in the environment and pose a communicable risk as a natural zoonosis and as a potential bioweapon. Composting results in microbial biodegradation of organic matter, reaching temperatures up to 70°C. I investigated the ability of compost to inactivate BA. Surrogate strains were sporulated over a range of temperatures to mimic natural sporulation environmental variations and tested in two separate experiments. The first, exposed four surrogate strains to temperatures mimicking a previous long-term (150 days) field-scale compost temperature profile. The second, composted BA endospores from two surrogate strains in laboratory scale composters for 33 days. Composting resulted in a 2 and 4 log10 reduction in endospore viability in oven and lab scale experiments, respectively. Results suggest composting has potential as a disposal method for anthrax related mortalities.en_US
dc.embargoNoen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/5452
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.proquest.subject0410en_US
dc.proquest.subject0768en_US
dc.proquest.subject0306en_US
dc.proquestyesYesen_US
dc.publisherLethbridge, Alta. : Universtiy of Lethbridge, Department of Biological Sciencesen_US
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Biological Sciencesen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Scienceen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)en_US
dc.subjectanthraxen_US
dc.subjectanthrax containment and disposalen_US
dc.subjectBacillus anthracis endosporesen_US
dc.subjectcompostingen_US
dc.subjectendospore inactivationen_US
dc.subjectthermal exposureen_US
dc.subjectDissertations, Academicen_US
dc.titleBiodegradation of Bacillus anthracis endospores in composten_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
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