Ben Hur
Location
CoLab, OCB 100
Start Date
28-4-2017 1:00 PM
End Date
28-4-2017 2:45 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Examining bacteria in the competitive environment of our soil we see that their method for staking claim to territory can be used to prevent pathogenic species from claiming lives. This was first discovered by Ian Fleming, the inventor of Penicillin. Antibiotics are an ever increasingly precious resource in our health systems. With pathogens adapting to current antibiotics at an alarming rate the discovery of new bacterial combatants is crucial. The task of discovery has fallen to the Small World Initiative. This collective effort brings together institutions to observe and catalogue previously unidentified secondary metabolite secreting bacteria capable of fighting pathogenic strains of bacteria that have built tolerances to more common and widely used antibiotics. Though my soil sample’s proximity to various fauna makes it a prime candidate for producing a diverse range of bacteria strains and more importantly strains that inhibit the growth of ESKAPE pathogens, the testing of eight developed strains has yielded no signs of effect against Pathogens. With the collaboration of another student a streak plate was produced of bacteria Named Ben Hur. In proof plates Ben Hur has inhibited Enterococcus raffinosus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Escherichia coli. It is our hope that these strains will be tested against the actual ESKAPE pathogens and begin to aid us against pathogenic bacteria.
Ben Hur
CoLab, OCB 100
Examining bacteria in the competitive environment of our soil we see that their method for staking claim to territory can be used to prevent pathogenic species from claiming lives. This was first discovered by Ian Fleming, the inventor of Penicillin. Antibiotics are an ever increasingly precious resource in our health systems. With pathogens adapting to current antibiotics at an alarming rate the discovery of new bacterial combatants is crucial. The task of discovery has fallen to the Small World Initiative. This collective effort brings together institutions to observe and catalogue previously unidentified secondary metabolite secreting bacteria capable of fighting pathogenic strains of bacteria that have built tolerances to more common and widely used antibiotics. Though my soil sample’s proximity to various fauna makes it a prime candidate for producing a diverse range of bacteria strains and more importantly strains that inhibit the growth of ESKAPE pathogens, the testing of eight developed strains has yielded no signs of effect against Pathogens. With the collaboration of another student a streak plate was produced of bacteria Named Ben Hur. In proof plates Ben Hur has inhibited Enterococcus raffinosus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Escherichia coli. It is our hope that these strains will be tested against the actual ESKAPE pathogens and begin to aid us against pathogenic bacteria.
Comments
The faculty supervisor on this project is Heather Seitz, Biology.