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Antimicrobial Producing Bacteria Isolated From Petroleum-Laced Hypersaline Soil, Joanna L. Fay

Master's Theses

Given the alternative functions of “antibiotics” as communication molecules or participants in metabolism, it seems probable that production might be influenced by factors such as nutrient availability, interactions with neighboring microbes, and/or colony or community structure and maturity. With this in mind, the present study aimed to broaden the scope of the search for novel antibiotics by experimenting with the following parameters: source of bacterial isolation, growth and assay media, and culturing techniques. Bacteria for this study were isolated from two categories of soil (petroleum-contaminated or uncontaminated) to compare diversity and antimicrobial activity. Compared to the uncontaminated soil, isolates of …