I work in the Cooper lab with the microbe we currently call SCBI, it is related to Serratia marcescens, and found in soil interacting symbiotically with nematodes related to C. elegans. This interaction benefits both parties because it allows for the destruction of moth larvae as a food source for both the bacteria and the nematode. The moth larvae also provide a fertile ground for replication of the bacteria. Our goal is to study the mechanisms of this symbiotic relationship based on the motility of the bacteria. We are in the process of mutagenizing the bacteria genome, via a randomly inserted transposon, in order to acquire motility mutants, both nonmotile and hypermotile, which we will use to study the effects of motility on the percentage of moth larva killed as a way of assessing the symbiotic interactions of SCBI and C. elegans. We ultimately hypothesize that a drop in the percentage of moth larva killed will be due to a weakened symbiotic interaction, as we know that the symbiotic relationship is required for destruction of the moth larvae since neither SCBI nor C. elegans is lethal to the moth larvae independently.