Isolation, Characterization and Identification of Environmental Bacterial Isolates with Screening for Antagonism Against Three Bacterial Targets
Abstract
Current antimicrobial treatments exhibit a broad range of killing power, promoting the increase of multi-drug resistant organisms. This has led to the urgent need to develop targeted antimicrobials as an alternative to today's treatments. This report summarizes work conducted to identify microorganisms that exhibit narrow-spectrum activity through the secretion of antimicrobials, termed bacteriocins, from a pool of environmental isolates collected at Fort Devens. The environmental isolates were characterized and found to be comprised mostly of microorganisms from the genus Bacillus and Staphylococcus. The environmental isolates were screened for bacteriocin-induced activity against three target strains of interest to the DoD: Bacillus anthracis Sterne, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The percentage of environmental isolates that demonstrated activity against Bacillus anthracis Sterne was 15 (9 of 62 isolates screened), while 2 of the isolates (2 of 114 isolates screened) exhibited activity against Staphylococcus aureus. No isolates were active against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The active isolates were screened further against additional targets to confirm their narrow-spectrum activity. This work successfully identified environmental microorganisms that exhibit bacteriocin-driven activity to produce narrow-spectrum antimicrobials that target DoD relevant microorganisms.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1033352
Entities
People
- Jennifer M. Rego
- Robert Stote
- Romy Kirby
Organizations
- United States Army Soldier Systems Center