Structural Identification of Secondary Metabolites from Bacteria
Abstract
Chronic misuse and abuse of antibiotics over the last century has led to an end of the golden age of antibiotics. However, we could turn to bacteria to find a solution to the current antibiotic resistance crisis. Bacteria are engaged in an endless arms race against each other, and humans can use the compounds bacteria produce as antibiotics. Our team isolated bacteria from local soil samples and aimed to identify and characterize these microbes. The two bacterial strains we were able to identify were Pseudomonas fulva and Plesiomonas shigelloides. P. fulva is an aerobic proteobacterium which produces secondary metabolites such as indole, a tryptophan derivative that has been found to be effective as a cancer therapy agent. P. shigelloides is a facultatively anaerobic proteobacteria which has shown to produce secondary metabolites such as Thiopeptide, a class of peptide antimicrobials produced by bacteria, and Betalactone. The bacteria of interest had their 16S ribosomal DNA sequenced, and the genus was determined using NCBI’s BLAST tool. To determine the secondary metabolites, the genomes were analyzed using Anti-SMASH (a secondary metabolite database). Previous work had only been able to identify the class of drugs produced, We are working to determine the structure of the compound. Using a combination of spectroscopy and chromatography techniques, we plan to compare our drug variant to drugs used in medicine.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Aarti Raja
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-6-2022 12:00 PM
End Date
4-7-2022 5:00 PM
Structural Identification of Secondary Metabolites from Bacteria
Alvin Sherman Library
Chronic misuse and abuse of antibiotics over the last century has led to an end of the golden age of antibiotics. However, we could turn to bacteria to find a solution to the current antibiotic resistance crisis. Bacteria are engaged in an endless arms race against each other, and humans can use the compounds bacteria produce as antibiotics. Our team isolated bacteria from local soil samples and aimed to identify and characterize these microbes. The two bacterial strains we were able to identify were Pseudomonas fulva and Plesiomonas shigelloides. P. fulva is an aerobic proteobacterium which produces secondary metabolites such as indole, a tryptophan derivative that has been found to be effective as a cancer therapy agent. P. shigelloides is a facultatively anaerobic proteobacteria which has shown to produce secondary metabolites such as Thiopeptide, a class of peptide antimicrobials produced by bacteria, and Betalactone. The bacteria of interest had their 16S ribosomal DNA sequenced, and the genus was determined using NCBI’s BLAST tool. To determine the secondary metabolites, the genomes were analyzed using Anti-SMASH (a secondary metabolite database). Previous work had only been able to identify the class of drugs produced, We are working to determine the structure of the compound. Using a combination of spectroscopy and chromatography techniques, we plan to compare our drug variant to drugs used in medicine.
