Booth Id:
MCRO084T
Category:
Microbiology
Year:
2019
Finalist Names:
Chaturvedi, Saarth (School: Eastern Regional High School)
Chaturvedi, Riya (School: Eastern Regional High School)
Ramu, Vijay (School: Cherokee High School)
Abstract:
Antibiotic resistance by bacterial is a growing problem around the world. According to the CDC antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest public health challenges of our time. In the US alone, an estimated 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths occur due to the these resistance pathogens. Our goal in this study was to identify novel antimicrobial sources from the natural flora of our local counties. Over a period of 1 month we collected 24 plant leaves and extracted them with methanol. We tested them on 4 BSL-1 bacteria (Serratia liquefaciens, Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas putida, and Enterobacter aerogenes). Of the twenty-four extracts tested, 4 of them (blackjack oak, Lindera glauca, Leibnitzia anandria, and false indigo bush) inhibited growth of B. cereus, E. aerogenes, and S. liquefaciens. None of 24 extracts inhibited the growth of P. putida. These results show that these 4 extracts are specific against a set of bacteria. The inhibition by Leibnitzia anandria was most robust against all three bacteria and comparable to 2 mg concentration of the antibiotic amoxicillin. This gave us confidence to make dilutions of the 4 extracts and found that they were all active up to a 1:3 or 1:10 dilutions. In conclusion, we have been successful in identifying 4 plant sources that inhibit the growth of Serratia liquefaciens, Bacillus cereus, and Enterobacter aerogenes. Further work will be required to purify and isolate the active compounds and test for their efficacy against other pathogenic bacteria.