Antimicrobial activity of edaphic microorganisms against clinically relevant bacteria

In recent decades, the emergence of bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents has raised a significant challenge in the medical field. The search for new therapeutic alternatives has become a challenging task. With an estimated diversity ranging from 100 million to 1 billion different bacterial types with unique functions and roles, it is critical to find antimicrobial solutions Recent studies have focused on bacterial species in soil as a source of antimicrobial compounds that can be used as potential therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases. This study focused on isolating, culturing, and characterizing the bacteria present in the soil of the Universidad de Investigación de Tecnología Experimental Yachay campus. To assess their potential therapeutic impact, antagonistic tests were carried out between the bacterial isolates and three strains of the most prevalent pathogens: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The results showed that according to antimicrobial activity evaluations, the metabolites produced by two soil strains, UITEY-030 and UITEY-055, exhibited partially inhibitory effects on the growth of S. aureus and E. coli. These results highlight the capability of soil-derived compounds as candidates for the development of novel antimicrobials.