Determining Toxicity of Bacterially-Produced Antibiotics

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Biology

First Reader

Dr. Ruth Plymale

Second Reader

Dr. Joseph Bradshaw

Third Reader

Dr. Randall Wight

Abstract

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are becoming a prevalent issue, making it pertinent that researchers discover new antibiotics to combat this. This research attempted to find viable antibiotics by determining the toxicity of secreted antibiotics from multiple bacteria and extracting antibiotics secreted from one bacterium. Twenty-seven antibiotic-producing bacteria were characterized during these experiments, an antibiotic extraction protocol was created, and the antibiotics produced from the bacterium were isolated using HPLC methods. After isolation, this antibiotic was tested for efficacy against pathogens, and it was found that the antibiotic still inhibited the growth of these bacteria, rendering the extraction and isolation process successful.

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