Question

You are studying a type of bacteria isolated from the acidic water runoff of a mining operation. You subject two batches of the same bacteria type to different environmental growth conditions. One batch is grown at pH 2, while the other is grown at pH 7. All other environmental parameters are kept identical between the two batches. You then collect their proteins and run a Western blot using an antibody that binds to a proton efflux pump protein (which actively expends energy to pump protons out of a cell). How would you characterize the information obtained in this experiment? What does it tell you, and why is that potentially valuable information?

Answer 1