Abstract
Antibiotic resistance is becoming an increasing problem due to bacteria evolving faster than the rate of new antibiotic discovery. Finding a new compound that could be used as an antibiotic would be beneficial for limiting the overuse of commonly prescribed antibiotics. This often means exploring environments that have gone unexplored in years. The compound secreted by the soil bacterium, Janthinobacterium lividum strain TAJX1901, which was found in a previously unexplored environment, has been shown to have antimicrobial effects in a lab setting. The compound was isolated and resolubilized into a solution and added to a disk to test for antimicrobial activity utilizing a modified Kirby-Bauer test on 17 different species of bacteria. The bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, displayed a zone of inhibition. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was then determined using a range of 200mg/ml – 0mg/ml which was grown and plated to determine the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Isolated colonies were still visible until a concentration of 50mg/ml of the compound was reached. While testing for MIC, researchers noticed the lack of biofilm within the tube. The finding resulted in further testing to identify if the compound specifically inhibited biofilm growth. This would furthermore result in the effectiveness of the compound at decreasing a key virulence trait, biofilm drug resistance. The results of testing the compound for biofilm inhibition showed that no biofilm was in the test well. The compound is successful in inhibiting planktonic growth and biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis.
Start Time
16-4-2025 1:30 PM
End Time
16-4-2025 4:00 PM
Presentation Type
Poster
Presentation Category
Health
Student Type
Undergraduate Student
Faculty Mentor
Sean Fox
Faculty Department
Biomedical Health Sciences
Eating Dirt Does Not Hurt: Antimicrobial Properties of TAJX1901
Antibiotic resistance is becoming an increasing problem due to bacteria evolving faster than the rate of new antibiotic discovery. Finding a new compound that could be used as an antibiotic would be beneficial for limiting the overuse of commonly prescribed antibiotics. This often means exploring environments that have gone unexplored in years. The compound secreted by the soil bacterium, Janthinobacterium lividum strain TAJX1901, which was found in a previously unexplored environment, has been shown to have antimicrobial effects in a lab setting. The compound was isolated and resolubilized into a solution and added to a disk to test for antimicrobial activity utilizing a modified Kirby-Bauer test on 17 different species of bacteria. The bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, displayed a zone of inhibition. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was then determined using a range of 200mg/ml – 0mg/ml which was grown and plated to determine the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Isolated colonies were still visible until a concentration of 50mg/ml of the compound was reached. While testing for MIC, researchers noticed the lack of biofilm within the tube. The finding resulted in further testing to identify if the compound specifically inhibited biofilm growth. This would furthermore result in the effectiveness of the compound at decreasing a key virulence trait, biofilm drug resistance. The results of testing the compound for biofilm inhibition showed that no biofilm was in the test well. The compound is successful in inhibiting planktonic growth and biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis.