This project investigated existing and inducible antibiotic resistance (AR) present at several public sites in and around Worcester, MA. Bacteria from the soil were screened for ampicillin resistance and tested for multidrug resistance. AR was induced through the bacterial metabolite 2,3-dihydroxybenzoate (DHB) in E.coli. Liquid cultures of E. coli were exposed to DHB, then cultured on antibiotic plates over time. Optical density measurements provided data on E.coli’s proliferation to infer the fitness cost of expressing AR genes. Our soil isolates showed that multidrug-resistant organisms are present at many locations around Worcester. Our DHB experiments supported previous findings that exposure to DHB induces antibiotic resistance in E. coli.

• This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

Creator

• McBrine, Rachel
• Baker, Emily

Publisher

• Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Identifier

• E-project-042822-103045
• 65051

Mot-clé

• Soil
• Antibiotics
• Antibiotic Resistance
• Metabolite
• Bacteria

Advisor

• Buckholt, Michael Allan
• Ryder, Elizabeth F.

Year

• 2022

Sponsor

• No Sponsor

Date created

• 2022-04-28

Resource type

• Major Qualifying Project

Major

• Biology & Biotechnology
• Bioinformatics & Computational Biology

Rights statement

• In Copyright