Screening for Antimicrobial Producing Microbes
Start Date
27-4-2023 1:30 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
The rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs is presenting an overwhelming challenge in the medical science industry. Our goal for this project is to contribute information to the development of new antibiotics to fight these superbugs. Our class has taken soil samples from locations of our choosing. I chose soil near the veterinary clinic I work for in Kearny, MO. My class is screening for microbes that produce antimicrobials. We isolated the microbes from the soil by a soil dilution series, diluting to a factor of 10^-6 or 1:1,000,000. Once we have found candidates by searching for their zone of inhibition we challenge them against the ESKAPE pathogen's relatives to see if they inhibit their growth. My candidate is a gram negative bacillus species measuring 2µm long that on an agarose plate was observed as orange, smooth, and having defined borders between the colony. After obtaining the observable data, the DNA is extracted from live cell samples of the candidate afterward; a PCR procedure is followed to replicate the DNA, which is then sent off for sequencing to identify the microbe further. Conclusively, if our projects are successful, these experiments will give insight into developing new antimicrobials.
Screening for Antimicrobial Producing Microbes
The rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs is presenting an overwhelming challenge in the medical science industry. Our goal for this project is to contribute information to the development of new antibiotics to fight these superbugs. Our class has taken soil samples from locations of our choosing. I chose soil near the veterinary clinic I work for in Kearny, MO. My class is screening for microbes that produce antimicrobials. We isolated the microbes from the soil by a soil dilution series, diluting to a factor of 10^-6 or 1:1,000,000. Once we have found candidates by searching for their zone of inhibition we challenge them against the ESKAPE pathogen's relatives to see if they inhibit their growth. My candidate is a gram negative bacillus species measuring 2µm long that on an agarose plate was observed as orange, smooth, and having defined borders between the colony. After obtaining the observable data, the DNA is extracted from live cell samples of the candidate afterward; a PCR procedure is followed to replicate the DNA, which is then sent off for sequencing to identify the microbe further. Conclusively, if our projects are successful, these experiments will give insight into developing new antimicrobials.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Angela Consani, Biology.