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Defense Date
8-3-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Science
Degree Name
Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Robert Smith
Second Advisor
Dr. Aarti Raja
Third Advisor
Dr. Omar Eldakar
Keywords
antibiotic resistance, aminoglycoside, gene expression, pathogenic, assays
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus are both opportunistic pathogenic bacteria also resistant to multiple antibiotics making them extremely problematic infectors of wounds. Further confounding this issue is that these bacteria are often found in co-culture, and the presence of the other alters their respective growth and metabolism promoting antibiotic resistance. There is a growing interest in the development of novel approaches using the existing arsenal of antibiotics to treat infections such as those caused by these two bacteria. One proposal suggests antibiotic efficacy can be augmented by using metabolites or carbon sources that moderate metabolic rate. While this has shown promise in mono-cultured bacteria, this strategy has yet to be applied to bacteria in co-culture. Given this backdrop, I investigated whether altering carbon source moderates the susceptibility of co-cultures of P. aeruginosa and S. aureus to the aminoglycoside antibiotic kanamycin. My hypothesis was that co-cultures with a preferred carbon source of either P. aeruginosa or S. aureus will increase their susceptibility to kanamycin. This was addressed in series of assays that measured the minimum inhibitory concentration of both bacteria in monoculture and in co-culture. My results showed how different carbon sources affect antibiotic susceptibility for both P. aeruginosa and S. aureus.
NSUWorks Citation
Elinor Sevy. 2023. Using Carbon Source Preference to Modulate the Antibiotic Susceptibility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus in Co-Culture.. Master's thesis. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, . (141)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hcas_etd_all/141.