Antibiotic Resistent Soil Bacteria
Location
CoLab, OCB 100
Start Date
27-4-2018 9:00 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Bacteria are everywhere. They inhabit every corner of the earth and are abundant in our human bodies. While some bacteria are essential for our survival, others are harmful. Antibiotics are chemicals that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria and are also used to treat bacterial infections. Today, the vast majority of antibiotics are produced by bacteria and fungi present in soil. These antibiotics can block the production of bacterial cell wall. Human cells do not have a cell wall so they are unharmed by this mechanism. Other antibiotics block ribosomes present in bacterial cells from making protein. This inhibition causes bacterial cell death. Human cells contain ribosomes as well, however, due to the differences between bacterial and human ribosomes they do not adversely impact us. Other antibiotics break apart bacterial DNA as it’s being copied, hence not allowing the bacteria to multiply. The goal of my project is to identify new bacteria to make antibiotics from the soil I have retrieved from a site at JCCC. I isolated bacteria from the soil sample I collected and tested the bacteria for antibiotic properties. My presentation will include a thorough analysis of the candidates I have isolated and their characterization; as well as whether my candidates have the ability to produce antibiotics. Characterization of my bacteria includes: (1) morphology (2) shape (3) staining, and (4) DNA sequencing that will identify the particular bacteria isolated. I hope to discover a new novel antibiotic producing bacterium and this data will help inform future studies.
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Antibiotic Resistent Soil Bacteria
CoLab, OCB 100
Bacteria are everywhere. They inhabit every corner of the earth and are abundant in our human bodies. While some bacteria are essential for our survival, others are harmful. Antibiotics are chemicals that kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria and are also used to treat bacterial infections. Today, the vast majority of antibiotics are produced by bacteria and fungi present in soil. These antibiotics can block the production of bacterial cell wall. Human cells do not have a cell wall so they are unharmed by this mechanism. Other antibiotics block ribosomes present in bacterial cells from making protein. This inhibition causes bacterial cell death. Human cells contain ribosomes as well, however, due to the differences between bacterial and human ribosomes they do not adversely impact us. Other antibiotics break apart bacterial DNA as it’s being copied, hence not allowing the bacteria to multiply. The goal of my project is to identify new bacteria to make antibiotics from the soil I have retrieved from a site at JCCC. I isolated bacteria from the soil sample I collected and tested the bacteria for antibiotic properties. My presentation will include a thorough analysis of the candidates I have isolated and their characterization; as well as whether my candidates have the ability to produce antibiotics. Characterization of my bacteria includes: (1) morphology (2) shape (3) staining, and (4) DNA sequencing that will identify the particular bacteria isolated. I hope to discover a new novel antibiotic producing bacterium and this data will help inform future studies.
Comments
The faculty supervisor for this project was Jon Kniss, Biology.