Antimicrobial Activity in Park Soil
Location
CoLab, COM 108
Start Date
30-4-2026 8:15 AM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Due to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, many medications used to treat infections are becoming ineffective. Soil samples contain bacteria that produce antimicrobial compounds. A soil sample collected at a park was serial diluted to narrow down the many different microorganisms present in the sample. Through this dilution, bacterial colonies exhibiting zones of inhibition were isolated onto master plates for further testing against six known ESKAPE pathogen relatives. Some of the isolated colonies produced a chemical that inhibited the growth of the ESKAPE bacteria relatives. Further tests involving PCR and gel electrophoresis provided more information on these antimicrobial producing bacteria. The results from this soil project are important for developing new antibiotics.
Antimicrobial Activity in Park Soil
CoLab, COM 108
Due to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, many medications used to treat infections are becoming ineffective. Soil samples contain bacteria that produce antimicrobial compounds. A soil sample collected at a park was serial diluted to narrow down the many different microorganisms present in the sample. Through this dilution, bacterial colonies exhibiting zones of inhibition were isolated onto master plates for further testing against six known ESKAPE pathogen relatives. Some of the isolated colonies produced a chemical that inhibited the growth of the ESKAPE bacteria relatives. Further tests involving PCR and gel electrophoresis provided more information on these antimicrobial producing bacteria. The results from this soil project are important for developing new antibiotics.

Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Melissa Beaty.