Characterizing the Appalachian Microbiome and Identifying Potential Antimicrobial Producers

Authors' Affiliations

Brynne Lucas, Undergraduate Health Sciences Student, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University Brennan Keeton, Undergraduate Health Sciences Student, College of Public Health, East Tennessee State University Paul Adedokun, Undergraduate Biology Student, College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Sean Fox, Department of Health Sciences, College of Public Health

Location

Culp Center Ballroom

Start Date

4-25-2023 9:00 AM

End Date

4-25-2023 11:00 AM

Poster Number

125

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Health Sciences

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Sean Fox

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Competition Type

Non-Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Microbiology

Abstract or Artist's Statement

The Appalachian Highlands Region is a biodiverse temperate forest that scales through a multitude of states along the eastern United States. This region contains microbial-rich soil with more than 10,000 different species of bacteria in one gram of soil and is still almost entirely undiscovered with very little known about the microbes that call this region home. The goals of this study are to 1) characterize the microbiome of this unique region and 2) potentially find uncharacterized microbes that are capable of producing their own natural antibiotics. Our research team utilized Buffalo Mountain as a training ground to collect soil samples at differing locations such as creek banks, bases of trees, overlooks, forested areas, bald ridges, and many more. With these samples, the team was able to grow and isolate various microorganisms that were characterized to have specific roles in this ecosystem. These included those microbes that have roles in degradation of pollutants, aid in the health of the plant species native to the region, belong to the biome of regional insects, and still others that were able to produce antimicrobial compounds. Through the process of isolation, purification, and 16s rRNA sequencing of the microorganism’s DNA, our team was able to identify many of the regional microbes and begin to characterize them, as well as, testing them against known pathogens such as Staphylococcus, Bacillus, and Escherichia. Two of the isolated microorganisms, PAP6, a previously unidentified and uncultured bacterium, and BK1, identified as Pseudomonas vancouverensis, exhibited zones-of-inhibition towards Gram positive bacteria indicating potentially uncharacterized antimicrobials. Taken together, these results prove that there are numerous culturable microorganisms with numerous unique abilities and qualities in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Future work from this project will continue to sample the various mountain ranges in the regions, identify and characterize these microbes, investigate potential antimicrobial producers, and map the unique microbiome of our region.

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Apr 25th, 9:00 AM Apr 25th, 11:00 AM

Characterizing the Appalachian Microbiome and Identifying Potential Antimicrobial Producers

Culp Center Ballroom

The Appalachian Highlands Region is a biodiverse temperate forest that scales through a multitude of states along the eastern United States. This region contains microbial-rich soil with more than 10,000 different species of bacteria in one gram of soil and is still almost entirely undiscovered with very little known about the microbes that call this region home. The goals of this study are to 1) characterize the microbiome of this unique region and 2) potentially find uncharacterized microbes that are capable of producing their own natural antibiotics. Our research team utilized Buffalo Mountain as a training ground to collect soil samples at differing locations such as creek banks, bases of trees, overlooks, forested areas, bald ridges, and many more. With these samples, the team was able to grow and isolate various microorganisms that were characterized to have specific roles in this ecosystem. These included those microbes that have roles in degradation of pollutants, aid in the health of the plant species native to the region, belong to the biome of regional insects, and still others that were able to produce antimicrobial compounds. Through the process of isolation, purification, and 16s rRNA sequencing of the microorganism’s DNA, our team was able to identify many of the regional microbes and begin to characterize them, as well as, testing them against known pathogens such as Staphylococcus, Bacillus, and Escherichia. Two of the isolated microorganisms, PAP6, a previously unidentified and uncultured bacterium, and BK1, identified as Pseudomonas vancouverensis, exhibited zones-of-inhibition towards Gram positive bacteria indicating potentially uncharacterized antimicrobials. Taken together, these results prove that there are numerous culturable microorganisms with numerous unique abilities and qualities in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Future work from this project will continue to sample the various mountain ranges in the regions, identify and characterize these microbes, investigate potential antimicrobial producers, and map the unique microbiome of our region.