Unveiling Potential Solutions: Exploring Soil Microbes and Plant Extracts in the Battle Against Antimicrobial Resistance
Author: Alba Marino
Faculty Supervisor: Brinda Govindan
Department: Biology
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant threat to global public health and development. In 2019, bacterial AMR contributed to approximately 1.27 million deaths worldwide and was a factor in 4.95 million deaths (7). We sought to uncover new antimicrobial compounds by using two testing methodologies: analysis of soil bacteria and the assessment of plant extracts. We wanted to find soil bacteria exhibiting inhibitory properties against safe relatives of selected ESKAPE pathogens that could potentially produce novel antibiotics. In parallel, we also evaluated the antibacterial properties of plant extracts. Both methods tested inhibition against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Bacillus subtilis. For the plant extracts we used the agar well-diffusion method. We found several candidate soil bacteria that inhibited E. coli. Rosemary, garlic and clove extracts also showed promising results. These findings contribute valuable insights into the comparative antibacterial efficacy of natural products and antibiotics, offering potential for future research on sustainable antimicrobial agents, thus supporting the broader objective of combating antimicrobial resistance.