Honors Thesis Archive

Author	Bradley Malott
Title	Development and investigation of antibiotic resistance in E. coli using aminoglycosides
Department	Chemistry
Advisors	Daniel Marous, Ray Dudek, and Brian Yontz
Year	2019
Honors	University Honors
Full Text	View Thesis (406 KB)
Abstract	The use of antibiotics to cure bacterial infections is one of the single most significant medical advancements in human history. This research focuses on the ability of bacteria to develop resistance to these antibiotics. The aminoglycoside antibiotic kanamycin was used to develop resistance in E. coli (ATCC 25922) as high above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) as possible. Resistance was developed up to 2500 μg/mL of kanamycin, 100 times the MIC of 25 μg/mL. However, more frequently, resistance could be developed to 100 μg/mL. The antibacterial-resistant E. coli was then used in a cross-resistance study. This study aimed to find whether kanamycin resistance translated to resistance to other antibiotics. The kanamycin-resistant E. coli were tested against neomycin and gentamicin (both aminoglycosides) and ampicillin (a β-lactam). The kanamycin-resistance did not confer resistance to ampicillin, but resistance above the wild-type MIC was seen with gentamicin and to a larger extent with neomycin.