Antibiotic Properties Found in the Soil
Location
CoLab, OCB 100
Start Date
27-4-2018 9:00 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Antibiotic resistance has recently become a major issue for the medical community. Due to the ability of bacteria to communicate with one another and switch genes, bacteria have evolved to become resistant to antibiotics. This has lead to serious diseases which were previously treatable by antibiotics, but are now becoming harder to treat. Soil bacteria are capable of producing their own antibiotics, or chemicals that kill or inhibit the growth of other bacteria. The bacteria produce zones of inhibition, which are visible areas in which antibiotics inhibit bacterial growth. Antibiotics such as penicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline were produced by bacteria and fungi in the soil. Since most antibiotics were found in soil bacteria, I collected a soil sample to identify and test bacteria for antibiotic properties. I diluted and plated soil to grow and isolate individual bacterial colonies. These colonies were then tested against multiple testers such as E. coli and E. faecalis, which are closely related to ESKAPE pathogens. ESKAPE pathogens include Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species which are all resistant to antibiotics. By testing bacteria against tester strains, I was able to look for possible zones of inhibition that were produced. A candidate was chosen based on the presence of a possible zone of inhibition. The use of microscopy, staining, metabolic and biochemical tests, PCR and gene sequencing were performed to identify the candidate bacterium. I will further describe the experiments I performed to characterize and identify my candidate bacterium.
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Antibiotic Properties Found in the Soil
CoLab, OCB 100
Antibiotic resistance has recently become a major issue for the medical community. Due to the ability of bacteria to communicate with one another and switch genes, bacteria have evolved to become resistant to antibiotics. This has lead to serious diseases which were previously treatable by antibiotics, but are now becoming harder to treat. Soil bacteria are capable of producing their own antibiotics, or chemicals that kill or inhibit the growth of other bacteria. The bacteria produce zones of inhibition, which are visible areas in which antibiotics inhibit bacterial growth. Antibiotics such as penicillin, streptomycin, and tetracycline were produced by bacteria and fungi in the soil. Since most antibiotics were found in soil bacteria, I collected a soil sample to identify and test bacteria for antibiotic properties. I diluted and plated soil to grow and isolate individual bacterial colonies. These colonies were then tested against multiple testers such as E. coli and E. faecalis, which are closely related to ESKAPE pathogens. ESKAPE pathogens include Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species which are all resistant to antibiotics. By testing bacteria against tester strains, I was able to look for possible zones of inhibition that were produced. A candidate was chosen based on the presence of a possible zone of inhibition. The use of microscopy, staining, metabolic and biochemical tests, PCR and gene sequencing were performed to identify the candidate bacterium. I will further describe the experiments I performed to characterize and identify my candidate bacterium.
Comments
The faculty supervisor on this project was Jon Kniss, Biology.