Isolation of Antibiotic Producing Microorganisms from Various Soil in South Florida

Nova Southeastern University is participating in the Small World Initiative (SWI) in the search for new antibiotics produced by soil dwelling microorganisms. Samples have been collected from a variety of regions around South Florida, including near the Everglades, West Palm Beach, Coral Springs, Hollywood, and Davie to search for antibiotic producing organisms and observe the diversity of microorganisms in Suburban, and Urban areas. After these soil samples were collected, they were serially diluted and plated. Isolates from the diluted plates were then tested against ESKAPE safe relatives and observed to see if a zone of inhibition was present. ESKAPE safe relatives are organisms related to human pathogens that comprise the majority of antibiotic resistant infections in healthcare settings. Five organisms that presented of zone of inhibition have been isolated. Two isolates had antibiotic activity against B. subtilis and two isolates had activity against S. epidermidis . These isolates are being characterized via Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) Analysis to identify the genus of the microorganism. A chemical extraction is being performed on the five isolates that presented antibiotic activity to isolate the bioactive compound. Characterization of the chemical compound will be performed using Infrared (IR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This will be followed by a follow-up chemical analyses using liquid chromatography.