Microbiology at JCCC: Antibiotic Resistance

It all started with a bacterial swab off of the forgotten water bottle left in the back seat of my 2015 Chevrolet Cruze. After seeing the sheer diversity of bacteria on that agar plate, it was clear that this world is filled to the brim with life not seen by the naked eye. For the remainder of the semester, our class focused on learning various techniques to view, analyze, and compare microscopic bacteria found from individually-gathered soil samples. Using aseptic technique and serial dilution, it was possible to reduce and pick out specific colonies of bacteria from the soil and ultimately create a master plate of the colonies that appeared to form zones of inhibition. After comparing the bacterial colonies on the master plate to the provided “safe relatives”, we were able to more closely see these zones of inhibition (which suggested antibiotic resistance). This goes to show that even bacteria compete with each other for resources in the soil - what a strange and fascinating world in which we live!