Is There an Antibiotic Hiding in Plain Sight in Soil?
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Location
CoLab
Start Date
3-5-2019 9:00 AM
End Date
3-5-2019 10:15 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Antibiotic resistance is a major problem faced by medical professionals and it is a problem that has gotten worse in the last decade. The purpose of this experiment was to find an antibiotic producing bacteria from a soil sample which hopefully can be used to create an antibiotic. Serial dilutions were performed and bacteria that showed zones of inhibition were found. Master plates were then made of these candidates and quadrant streaks were used to isolate a single colony. The bacteria were tested against six different safe versions of ESKAPE pathogens to determine if the candidate bacteria could resist these safe pathogens. Various metabolic tests were performed to determine if any special characteristics were present, such as the enzyme catalase, the presence of a flagella, or the presence of hemolysins. Finally, a PCR was run to sequence the DNA and determine the genus of the candidate bacteria. The bacteria were resistant to both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis, which is promising since E. coli is Gram-negative and S. epidermidis is Gram-positive. This means that the candidate bacteria could be the basis for a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Barrientos, Jasmine. Potential Antibiotic. For this project, the objective was to search for antibiotic producing bacteria. The intention is to hopefully find a new potential antibiotic for the future. Testing includes creating serial dilutions, a master plate, and a quadrant streak plate. Those three experiments helped isolate the bacterial species. We also tested the candidates against safe relatives of ESKAPE pathogens. We will also be testing the candidate metabolically and sequencing to know at least the genus level of the organism. The potential antibiotic could possibly save millions of lives.
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Is There an Antibiotic Hiding in Plain Sight in Soil?
CoLab
Antibiotic resistance is a major problem faced by medical professionals and it is a problem that has gotten worse in the last decade. The purpose of this experiment was to find an antibiotic producing bacteria from a soil sample which hopefully can be used to create an antibiotic. Serial dilutions were performed and bacteria that showed zones of inhibition were found. Master plates were then made of these candidates and quadrant streaks were used to isolate a single colony. The bacteria were tested against six different safe versions of ESKAPE pathogens to determine if the candidate bacteria could resist these safe pathogens. Various metabolic tests were performed to determine if any special characteristics were present, such as the enzyme catalase, the presence of a flagella, or the presence of hemolysins. Finally, a PCR was run to sequence the DNA and determine the genus of the candidate bacteria. The bacteria were resistant to both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis, which is promising since E. coli is Gram-negative and S. epidermidis is Gram-positive. This means that the candidate bacteria could be the basis for a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Barrientos, Jasmine. Potential Antibiotic. For this project, the objective was to search for antibiotic producing bacteria. The intention is to hopefully find a new potential antibiotic for the future. Testing includes creating serial dilutions, a master plate, and a quadrant streak plate. Those three experiments helped isolate the bacterial species. We also tested the candidates against safe relatives of ESKAPE pathogens. We will also be testing the candidate metabolically and sequencing to know at least the genus level of the organism. The potential antibiotic could possibly save millions of lives.
Comments
The faculty supervisor for this project was Melissa Beaty, Biology.