Antibiotic Screening with JCCC Soil

Soil is a rich source of diverse microorganisms, many of which produce antibiotics. This is due to the soil being surrounded by many microorganisms, which makes them kill other bacteria in advantage for them to grow. This project focuses on isolating and identifying candidates that are effective against tester strains of the ESCAPE pathogens' safe relatives. The soil used for this study came from Johnson County Community College, collected by Xavier Cunningham. By using the serial dilution method, five agar plates containing colonies were later selected to form a master plate. From this master plate, each candidate was tested against the safe relatives of the ESKAPE pathogens. From the results, the candidate that was most effective from the tester strains was used for further examination.