T30 Recruiting and Retaining K9–16 Students through Field- and Laboratory -Based Geoscience Experiences (Posters)

Sunday, 4 November 2018
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Halls J-K

MICROBIAL DIVERSITY IN URBAN ENVIRONMENTS: CONCERN FOR ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Paper number: T30-18
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Authors

Abstract

We are almost oblivious to the presence of microorganisms in our daily lives, but they exist and come into contact with us all the time. While some bacteria are harmless, and even beneficial, other bacteria can cause infections. A common treatment to bacterial infections is antibiotics and the success of an antibiotic depends on the resistance of the bacteria to the antibiotic. We conducted experiments to identify the types of bacteria that can be found on surfaces or within soil environments that come into contact with a vast number of people on a daily basis and how this can affect the antibiotic resistance/susceptibility of these bacteria. By using common laboratory procedures to extract, amplify and identify DNA, we identified samples of bacteria. We also used the Biolog/Kirby-Bauer assay to test for their antibiotic resistance /susceptibility. The results obtained showed that surfaces with presumably greater contact with people had a greater diversity of bacteria and at the overall level, the bacteria of the sample population were mostly susceptible to the commonly used antibiotics which is a good news! In terms of soil texture, samples mostly represented sandy soil with significant admixtures of silt and clay and these were collected from wooded areas, parks, urban and farmlands located in Queens, Bronx and Long Island. Considering sandy soil, it was directly correlated with higher presence of bacterial growth and presumably due to the exposure of abundant oxygen level (greater aeration), its pore volume, and surface area. Preliminary geochemical investigations (trace elements and major oxide) of representative soil samples also demonstrated a geochemical anomaly with respect to enrichment and depletion of bacterial growth.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 50, No. 6

doi: 10.1130/abs/2018AM-315997

© Copyright 2018 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.