Pathogenic bacteria have always been a problem that threatens the lives and health of humans. Now, there are more and more cases of antibiotic resistant bacteria strains which are much harder to treat. This project’s main goal was to discover novel antibiotics from local plant and mushroom species that have natural bioactive compounds. Seventy five different mushroom species from local areas have been tested and 16 of the mushroom extracts were found to contain antibacterial compounds. Forty five of these samples were identified using DNA ribotyping then comparing the sequence to a database. The extracts were tested for antibiotic activity using filter disc assays. The extract was soaked on a filter paper disc which was placed on an agar plate spread with Methicillin Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA) and multi drug resistant <i>Acinetobacterbaumannii</i>. For those mushroom extracts that exhibited a zone of inhibition, the next step was to isolate and identify the active compounds. Experiments were done to determine the stability of the active compounds in acetonitrile, an essential solvent for High Performance Liquid Chromatography. HPLC fractioning was done to isolate and attempt to identify the active compound for each of the 16 extracts exhibiting antibiotic activity. High Performance Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS) was employed to separate the extract into its different compounds. Each of the fractions were then tested against the bacteria for antibiotic activity. The fractions were then analyzed using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) to attempt to identify the chemical structure of the compound. Eventually the main goal is to identify their mechanism for effectiveness against bacteria to help create a new drug that is effective against antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Discovery of novel antibiotics from local plants and mushrooms

251st National Meeting (2016)

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