Small World Initiative Project
Location
CoLab, OCB 100
Start Date
28-4-2017 1:00 PM
End Date
28-4-2017 2:45 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
The bacteria I am presenting was discovered in dirt I collected at the base of a tree in the Wilderness Science Center in Stilwell, Kansas. Through the process of serial dilution I was able to grow and harvest several different types of bacteria from my soil sample. Master plates were made using many of the interesting looking bacteria grown to determine if any inhibition to each other would take place. Once inhibitory bacteria were found they were tested against safe bacterial relatives to the ESKAPE pathogens. ESKAPE pathogens are a class of bacteria that have formed multi-drug resistance and are major threats to human health in hospital settings. The bacteria I tested (Bacteria D5A) demonstrated good inhibition to five of the gram-positive safe bacteria: Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtillus. The ESKAPE pathogens some of the safe relatives are related to are Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus. Enterococcus faecium is multi-drug resistant to Vancomycin, Ampicillin and aminoglycosides. It is a "device-associated" infection meaning that patients who have central lines, catheters or are on ventilators are more susceptible to this pathogen. It can cause endocarditis, soft tissue/wound infections and urinary tract infections. Staphylococcus aureus, also widely known as MRSA, has become resistant to Methicillin and is usually found in post-surgery wounds. It can also cause cellulitis, meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia. Finding new bacteria that can inhibit these safe relatives can lead to promising discoveries for up-to-date and effective antibiotics against the more severe ESKAPE pathogens.
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Small World Initiative Project
CoLab, OCB 100
The bacteria I am presenting was discovered in dirt I collected at the base of a tree in the Wilderness Science Center in Stilwell, Kansas. Through the process of serial dilution I was able to grow and harvest several different types of bacteria from my soil sample. Master plates were made using many of the interesting looking bacteria grown to determine if any inhibition to each other would take place. Once inhibitory bacteria were found they were tested against safe bacterial relatives to the ESKAPE pathogens. ESKAPE pathogens are a class of bacteria that have formed multi-drug resistance and are major threats to human health in hospital settings. The bacteria I tested (Bacteria D5A) demonstrated good inhibition to five of the gram-positive safe bacteria: Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtillus. The ESKAPE pathogens some of the safe relatives are related to are Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus. Enterococcus faecium is multi-drug resistant to Vancomycin, Ampicillin and aminoglycosides. It is a "device-associated" infection meaning that patients who have central lines, catheters or are on ventilators are more susceptible to this pathogen. It can cause endocarditis, soft tissue/wound infections and urinary tract infections. Staphylococcus aureus, also widely known as MRSA, has become resistant to Methicillin and is usually found in post-surgery wounds. It can also cause cellulitis, meningitis, sepsis and pneumonia. Finding new bacteria that can inhibit these safe relatives can lead to promising discoveries for up-to-date and effective antibiotics against the more severe ESKAPE pathogens.
Comments
The faculty supervisor on this project is Jamie Cunningham, Biology.