Analyzing Bacterial Soil Isolates for New Antibiotic Production

Analyzing Bacterial Soil Isolates for New Antibiotic Production

Presenter(s)

Meagan Nicole Lovin

Comments

This poster reflects research conducted as part of a course project designed to give students experience in the research process.

Description

The last class of antibiotics to be discovered was in 1987, and no new antibiotics agents have been identified since. Bacteria have become increasingly resistant to our current stock of antibiotics and these strains have even been found to contain resistance to all known antibiotics. In the search for new antibiotics, the Tiny Earth Network has culminated labs all over the world to encourage students to join the search and learn about how to test and find new antibiotics. We collected soil samples from the University of Dayton and diluted them down to better separate out the individual bacterium. The selected bacteria are screened against various ESKAPE pathogens, specifically Acinetobacter baumannii and Staphylococcus aureus via their safe relatives, A. baylyi and S. epidermidis, respectively. This screening process showed six promising bacteria with significant zones of inhibition. Additional lab testing including Gram staining, catalase testing, triple sugar iron testing, MacConkey agar, motility identification, mannitol salt agar testing, chia seed testing, and finally PCR, extraction, and DNA sequencing will be utilized to determine the identity of the bacteria we discover. This research brings hope to the discovery of a new antibiotic that can be used on the pharmaceutical counter.

Publication Date

4-24-2019

Project Designation

Course Project

Primary Advisor

Erica Marie Rinehart, Yvonne Y. Sun

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Analyzing Bacterial Soil Isolates for New Antibiotic Production

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