Screening Natural Product Extracts for Bacterial Biofilm Inhibition Activity
Faculty Mentor Name
Skylar Carlson
Research or Creativity Area
Natural Sciences
Abstract
Not long ago, antibiotics reigned supreme amongst human medicine as a superdrug that treated numerous infections that were once a death sentence. However, decades of overuse amongst industries and individuals have ushered in a wave of public health crises of the widespread rise of antibiotic resistance, leading to a decline in effective treatments of the said infections. According to the World Health Organization, 2.8 million people in the United States get an antibiotic resistant infection, resulting in more than 35,000 deaths yearly. To counteract the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, innovative strategies for targeting bacterial infections are required. One promising strategy is to inhibit biofilm formation. Biofilms are highly structured communities of microorganisms—such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses—that adhere to moist surfaces and encase themselves in a protective, glue-like matrix made of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). This matrix acts as a physical barrier, protecting bacteria from antibiotics and the host immune system, and makes them 10-1,000 times more resistant than free-floating bacteria. To identify novel anti-biofilm compounds, the Carlson Lab Natural Product Library will be screened using a biofilm formation assay (O’Toole et al. 2008). This library contains fractions and extracts from microbial and algal sources and has previously been screened for antibiotic properties by our group. The assay tests samples at varying concentrations against 3 pathogens three times (triplicate), with concentrations being 100 ug/mL, 50 ug/mL, and 25 ug/mL. Following incubation, culture media is removed, plate is rinsed of any unattached cells, and biofilm samples are stained with crystal violet. The biofilm is then quantified using 80% ethanol and spectroscopy to analyze whether or not the extracts inhibited biofilm activity in each of the pathogens we tested. Our future directions are to finish screening the remaining natural product extracts and fractions and to distinguish extracts that exhibit biofilm inhibiting activities.
Screening Natural Product Extracts for Bacterial Biofilm Inhibition Activity
Not long ago, antibiotics reigned supreme amongst human medicine as a superdrug that treated numerous infections that were once a death sentence. However, decades of overuse amongst industries and individuals have ushered in a wave of public health crises of the widespread rise of antibiotic resistance, leading to a decline in effective treatments of the said infections. According to the World Health Organization, 2.8 million people in the United States get an antibiotic resistant infection, resulting in more than 35,000 deaths yearly. To counteract the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, innovative strategies for targeting bacterial infections are required. One promising strategy is to inhibit biofilm formation. Biofilms are highly structured communities of microorganisms—such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses—that adhere to moist surfaces and encase themselves in a protective, glue-like matrix made of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). This matrix acts as a physical barrier, protecting bacteria from antibiotics and the host immune system, and makes them 10-1,000 times more resistant than free-floating bacteria. To identify novel anti-biofilm compounds, the Carlson Lab Natural Product Library will be screened using a biofilm formation assay (O’Toole et al. 2008). This library contains fractions and extracts from microbial and algal sources and has previously been screened for antibiotic properties by our group. The assay tests samples at varying concentrations against 3 pathogens three times (triplicate), with concentrations being 100 ug/mL, 50 ug/mL, and 25 ug/mL. Following incubation, culture media is removed, plate is rinsed of any unattached cells, and biofilm samples are stained with crystal violet. The biofilm is then quantified using 80% ethanol and spectroscopy to analyze whether or not the extracts inhibited biofilm activity in each of the pathogens we tested. Our future directions are to finish screening the remaining natural product extracts and fractions and to distinguish extracts that exhibit biofilm inhibiting activities.
