Date Approved
2025
Degree Type
Open Access Senior Honors Thesis
Department or School
Biology
First Advisor
Paul Price, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Aaron Liepman, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Natalie Dove, Ph.D.
Abstract
This study aimed to discover new antibiotics produced by soil microbes. Previous studies have shown that manipulation of microbial growth conditions through variable carbon sources and growth in coculture could induce the production of novel antibiotics by soil microbes. This study expanded on these observations by testing the levels of antibiotic production when a producing strain was grown in twenty different carbon sources and cocultured with more than one hundred different coculture partners. Organic extracts from liquid cultures were tested against a panel of four safe relatives to ESKAPE pathogens and one yeast to detect antimicrobial activity. Certain combinations of carbon sources and stimulating strains were better able to induce antimicrobial activity from the selected producers than other combinations. Flaxseed meal was the most effective carbon source for the strains tested, and Gram-negative bacteria seemed to stimulate the most activity. These results serve as proof-of-concept that these techniques are an effective mechanism for manipulating the production of antibiotics from soil microbes.
Recommended Citation
Dembinski, April R., "Use of coculture and carbon source manipulation to stimulate antibiotic production in soil-dwelling microbes" (2025). Senior Honors Theses and Projects. 861.
https://commons.emich.edu/honors/861