Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a strain of Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to a number of antibiotics, including methicillin. MRSA is a very aggressive bacterium that has been responsible for infections in humans associated with the hospital environment. Unfortunately, these infections are now occurring in increasing numbers and are no longer just associated with the hospital environment but rather places in everyday life such as gyms, schools, and prisons. It is important to find alternative methods to antibiotics that can disinfect the bacteria. It is also important with the increasing prevalence in everyday life to find possible remedies that are cheap and easy to make right in the comfort of your own home. In this study, I will be investigating the question of whether vegetable juices have antimicrobial properties against MRSA and S. aureus. For my hypothesis, I am predicting that onions and tomatoes will be able to disinfect MRSA and Staphylococcus aureus because they are both highly acidic vegetables. For my investigation, I chose ten different vegetables ranging in pH and color (broccoli, spinach, avocado, carrot, tomato, ginger, onion, cucumber, asparagus and celery) and extracted the juice with a blender. I grew Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA separately on plates and tested the effects over the course of two days using a disk diffusion method. Preliminary results indicate that onions and tomatoes were the only vegetables that seemed to have some isinfecting properties to them. Future experiments will include repeated experiments using the disk diffusion method, as well as studies on the effects of spraying the vegetable juices directly onto an area to disinfect surfaces such as gym equipment.
Generally, Staphylococcus aureus is a part of our normal flora, but some individuals carry MRSA--an opportunistic pathogen. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is any strain of S. aureus that has developed resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. It is no more infectious than S. aureus but its resistance makes it difficult to treat when infections do occur. Exposing MRSA to even more antibiotics will simply hasten its developing resistance to more drugs. The purpose of this study is to examine the antimicrobial properties of Tea Tree Oil, Peppermint Oil, and Lemongrass Oil against a MRSA strain grown from a High Point University student sample. Preliminary data has shown that both S. aureus and MRSA are sensitive to all three of the aforementioned oils in a disk diffusion assay. The individual chemical components of each of these oils will be tested against S. aureus and MRSA in order to determine the organic compounds that are exhibiting the antimicrobial properties seen in these oils. With further research, it is possible that these oils and their components will serve as natural remedies to treat MRSA infections as well as constituents in potential disinfecting cleaners.
Identification and Comparison of Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Bacteria Isolated From the General Population, Freshman University Students, and Medical Care Facilities
Antibiotic resistance has become a world-wide problem within the medical community. Genes that convey drug and multi-drug resistance are spread generationally and through horizontal transfer between bacteria of the same and different species. As people conduct their daily lives, they will encounter bacteria that carry antibiotic resistance genes which can then be transferred to their normal bacterial flora. In this project, members of the general population and freshman university students were sampled. Medical clinics in the Shoals area were also sampled. Swabs were used to collect bacterial samples from hands (general population and university students) or commonly touched surfaces (pens, reading material, phones, etc.) within the clinic environment. Samples were grown overnight and bacteria were isolated. Isolates were identified using the Biolog generation III database and tested for antibiotic resistance by the Kirby Bauer method. All samples were tested against 19 antibiotics and one negative control. It is expected that there will be commonly isolated species of bacteria between the general population and university students and that some bacteria isolated from the medical facilities will also be found on members of the general population and university students. Antibiotic resistance to penicillin class drugs is expected to be high. The data generated from surveys such as this can be used by the scientific and medical communities to monitor drug resistance and, when necessary, discontinue use of a particular antibiotic or class of antibiotics.
Is Your Dirt Dirty? Proving Septic Tank Systems Have Less Nitrate and Nitrite Contamination Than Sewer Line Systems
Is your dirt dirty? Proving Septic line systems have less nitrate and nitrite contamination than sewer line systems Alesha D. McNeese, Dr. Brian Burnes Dept of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of West Alabama Livingston, AL 35470 Abstract. Nitrogen is a natural part of our environment and is essential for plants to grow. In excess, it can be extremely harmful to the environment. Nitrates and nitrites are in abundance anywhere human or animal waste is being biochemically degraded. Septic tanks and sewer systems are concentrated sources of nitrogen waste. In this study, we investigated whether septic tanks or sewage systems generate more nitrogen contamination in the surrounding soils. We expected that the more controlled filtration of septic tank systems would produce less contamination than sewer line systems. Our results are consistent with our expectations, suggesting that soils near sewage systems receive higher levels of nitrate contamination than soils associated with septic systems.
