Start Date
27-4-2023 10:30 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Antibiotic resistance has hit an all-time high, creating near crisis-level needs for new antibiotics for the treatment of broad-spectrum-resistant pathogens, to aid the medical community at large. This need has spurred the research community to spread beyond the pharmaceutical Research and Development departments to the classrooms of colleges nationwide. In my effort to contribute to this research, I was able to find 10 suitable candidates from my soil sample and narrow it down to one very promising candidate that was broad-spectrum producing in antibiotic inhibition of ESKAPE relative pathogens. Initial serial dilution of the soil sample was done and plating to achieve a countable plate was key to candidate selection. Candidate selection was done through careful consideration of colony morphology including unique variables such as size, elevation, margin, and coloration. Eventually, the field was narrowed to the aforementioned 10 candidates, of which 2, Edge and Mick Foley tested well against 5 of the ESKAPE relative pathogens: against E. faecalis, S. epidermidis, E. coli, A. baylyi, and P. putida; each proving inhibition against 3 of the same relatives and 1 unique relative pathogen. In the end, only one candidate was allowed to move forward, Edge, and this candidate demonstrated antibiotic inhibition against E. faecalis, S. epidermidis, E. coli, and A. baylyi. This research is ongoing and has a very encouraging outlook for the identification and genetic sequencing of a possible new broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Image
The Search for Antibiotics in the Soil Beneath Us
Antibiotic resistance has hit an all-time high, creating near crisis-level needs for new antibiotics for the treatment of broad-spectrum-resistant pathogens, to aid the medical community at large. This need has spurred the research community to spread beyond the pharmaceutical Research and Development departments to the classrooms of colleges nationwide. In my effort to contribute to this research, I was able to find 10 suitable candidates from my soil sample and narrow it down to one very promising candidate that was broad-spectrum producing in antibiotic inhibition of ESKAPE relative pathogens. Initial serial dilution of the soil sample was done and plating to achieve a countable plate was key to candidate selection. Candidate selection was done through careful consideration of colony morphology including unique variables such as size, elevation, margin, and coloration. Eventually, the field was narrowed to the aforementioned 10 candidates, of which 2, Edge and Mick Foley tested well against 5 of the ESKAPE relative pathogens: against E. faecalis, S. epidermidis, E. coli, A. baylyi, and P. putida; each proving inhibition against 3 of the same relatives and 1 unique relative pathogen. In the end, only one candidate was allowed to move forward, Edge, and this candidate demonstrated antibiotic inhibition against E. faecalis, S. epidermidis, E. coli, and A. baylyi. This research is ongoing and has a very encouraging outlook for the identification and genetic sequencing of a possible new broad-spectrum antibiotic.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Heather Seitz, Biology.