From the Lake to the Plate: Identifying Antimicrobial Production in Bacterial Species Isolated from Lake Michigan — 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

From the Lake to the Plate: Identifying Antimicrobial Production in Bacterial Species Isolated from Lake Michigan

Name: Meredyth Wenta
Major: Biology
Hometown: Kenosha
Faculty Sponsor: Deborah Tobiason
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

Microbial populations form the basis of ecological systems, and exist in nearly all environments. A water sample from Lake Michigan was collected and analyzed for the presence of microbial species. Initially conducted as a part of a laboratory course, the goal of the project was to identify freshwater microbial species, using laboratory and sequencing techniques, and test the identified microbes for antibiotic production. Three bacterial species were isolated and analyzed: Blew, Perp, and Phil. Each microbe produced antibiotics against a laboratory strain of known bacteria. The 16S rRNA and BioLog analysis of all three unknown bacteria were used to identify each bacterial species. However, <99% identity levels require further testing to confirm bacterial identities (Janda & Abbott, 2007). Antimicrobial production was observed on plates of known bacteria: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Blew produced antimicrobials against E. coli. The filamentous growth of Phil requires additional testing to observe antimicrobial growth. Identified antimicrobials can be further tested against other known bacteria. Future goals include the isolation of the antimicrobials and identifying their structure.

Poster file