Isolation of Antibiotic Producing Bacteria from Soil

Abstract

Antibiotics are produced by microorganisms to inhibit or kill other microorganisms and they can be modified to be used against human pathogens. The same few classes of antibiotics have been continuously modified, and bacteria are becoming resistant to the effects. One solution is to discover new antibiotic producing microorganisms, which has only been done once in the last 31 years. During the spring of 2018, two soil samples were collected in an attempt to find antibiotic-producing bacteria. The soil isolates were then patched onto four plates to determine if they could inhibit one or more tester strains (Salmonella enteritidis, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus). Two antibiotic producing soil isolates were originally identified to be the same bacterium. The antibiotic-producing soil isolate was then subjected to a variety of physiological tests to further characterize the strain.