Assessing the ability of a microgravity environment to promote the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Assessing the ability of a microgravity environment to promote the transfer of antibiotic resistance genes between bacteria

Name: Tristan Grams
Major: Biology
Hometown: Cudahy, WI
Faculty Sponsor: Andrea Henle
Other Sponsors: Kasthuri Venkateswaran, Camilla Urbaniak
Type of research: Independent research
Funding: NASA under Award No. NIP17_1.0

Abstract

Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is a major concern worldwide, which prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) this year to publish the first ever list of antibiotic resistant “priority pathogens” that pose the greatest threat to human health. While AMR is a serious problem on Earth, it is an even bigger issue in space, as astronauts become immune-compromised and therefore more prone to infection. This, coupled with the fact that bacteria become more virulent and antibiotic resistant when grown in space, make the study of AMR under microgravity a high priority. It is not yet known what causes bacteria grown in space to become resistant or more susceptible to antibiotics, but we believe it could be due to increased horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of AMR genes and/or increased mutations in AMR genes, leading to a gain of function when these bacteria are exposed to microgravity.

A microbial monitoring study of the International Space Station (ISS), isolated various strains of Acinetobacter pittii, which were resistant to 6 antibiotics, one of which was oxacillin. To carry out our hypothesis, S. aureus, isolated from the ISS, and negative for blaOXA, will be incubated with A. pittii, which carries OXA75 and OXA421, under simulated microgravity using the High Aspect Ratio Vessel (HARV). Determining the cause of increased AMR will help protect astronauts on future long-term space missions.

Poster file