Life Sciences Commons^™

Isolation & Characterization Of Bacteria In The Built Environment: Measuring The Effect Of Pharmaceuticals On Growth, Amanda V. Finck, Kelly J. Digeronimo, Nene S. Sy, Zakiya Whatley

Student Publications

This work reports the isolation and characterization of bacteria from the built environment at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, PA. Surfaces of a water fountain on campus were swabbed and serially streaked to isolate multiple bacteria on R2A agar. Following multiple rounds of growth, the unknown microbial candidates were narrowed to two visibly­distinct organisms. Morphological characterization and phylogenetic identification based on 16S rDNA sequencing revealed that the isolates were Chryseobactierum hispalense and Microbacterium maritypicum. We report synergistic biofilm formation between Chryseobactierum hispalense and Microbacterium maritypicum. The contamination of drinking water with varying levels of personal care products and pharmaceuticals (PCPPs) is …