Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol Agents
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to public health due to the lack of effective drugs to combat infectious diseases, which generates the need to search for new antimicrobial substances. In this study, the potential of soil as a source of antimicrobial-producing bacteria (APB) was in...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Antibiotics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/13/1/29 |
| _version_ | 1797344771973316608 |
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| author | Mario Sergio Pino-Hurtado Rosa Fernández-Fernández Carmen Torres Beatriz Robredo |
| author_facet | Mario Sergio Pino-Hurtado Rosa Fernández-Fernández Carmen Torres Beatriz Robredo |
| author_sort | Mario Sergio Pino-Hurtado |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to public health due to the lack of effective drugs to combat infectious diseases, which generates the need to search for new antimicrobial substances. In this study, the potential of soil as a source of antimicrobial-producing bacteria (APB) was investigated and the importance of the connection between education and science was emphasized, using service-learning methodologies. Sixty-one soil samples were collected, and 1220 bacterial isolates were recovered. Eighteen of these isolates showed antimicrobial activity against at least 1 of the 12 indicator bacteria tested (including multidrug-resistant and relevant pathogens). The 18 APB were identified by MALDI-TOF and 6 different genera (<i>Bacillus</i>, <i>Brevibacillus</i>, <i>Lysinobacillus</i>, <i>Peribacillus</i>, <i>Streptomyces</i>, and <i>Advenella</i>) and 10 species were identified. The 18 APB were tested for antifungal activity against four phytopathogenic fungi (<i>Botritis cynerea</i>, <i>Lecanicillium fungicola</i>, <i>Trichoderma harzianum</i>, and <i>Cladobotryum mycophilum</i>). Moreover, the antibiotic susceptibility of APB was tested using the disk-diffusion method as well as their β-hemolytic activity (important safety criteria for potential future applications). A total of 10 of the 18 APB were able to inhibit at least 50% of indicator bacteria tested, including methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA), among others. A total of 4 of the 18 APB (3 <i>Bacillus pumilus</i> and 1 <i>Bacillus altitudinis</i>) showed inhibitory activity against two of the four fungal pathogens tested (<i>B. cinerea</i> and <i>L. fungicola</i>), as well as against 5–7 of the 12 bacterial pathogen indicators; these 4 isolates showed susceptibility to the antibiotics tested and lacked β-hemolytic activity and were considered promising APB for use as potential biocontrol agents. In addition, one <i>Brevibacillus laterosporus</i> strain had activity against 83% of indicator bacteria tested including <i>Escherichia coli</i>, MRSA and other methicillin-resistant staphylococci, as well as vancomycin-resistant enterococci (but not against fungi). These results show that soil is a source of APB with relevant antibacterial and antifungal activities, and also emphasize the importance of education and science to raise public awareness of the AMR problem and the strategies to control it. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:07:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bc2fac4c861b4b658a8a3cc25e50b52e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-6382 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:07:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Antibiotics |
| spelling | doaj.art-bc2fac4c861b4b658a8a3cc25e50b52e2024-01-26T14:36:48ZengMDPI AGAntibiotics2079-63822023-12-011312910.3390/antibiotics13010029Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol AgentsMario Sergio Pino-Hurtado0Rosa Fernández-Fernández1Carmen Torres2Beatriz Robredo3Area of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, OneHealth-UR Research Group, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, SpainArea of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, OneHealth-UR Research Group, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, SpainArea of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, OneHealth-UR Research Group, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, SpainArea of Didactic of Experimental Sciences, OneHealth-UR Research Group, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, SpainAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to public health due to the lack of effective drugs to combat infectious diseases, which generates the need to search for new antimicrobial substances. In this study, the potential of soil as a source of antimicrobial-producing bacteria (APB) was investigated and the importance of the connection between education and science was emphasized, using service-learning methodologies. Sixty-one soil samples were collected, and 1220 bacterial isolates were recovered. Eighteen of these isolates showed antimicrobial activity against at least 1 of the 12 indicator bacteria tested (including multidrug-resistant and relevant pathogens). The 18 APB were identified by MALDI-TOF and 6 different genera (<i>Bacillus</i>, <i>Brevibacillus</i>, <i>Lysinobacillus</i>, <i>Peribacillus</i>, <i>Streptomyces</i>, and <i>Advenella</i>) and 10 species were identified. The 18 APB were tested for antifungal activity against four phytopathogenic fungi (<i>Botritis cynerea</i>, <i>Lecanicillium fungicola</i>, <i>Trichoderma harzianum</i>, and <i>Cladobotryum mycophilum</i>). Moreover, the antibiotic susceptibility of APB was tested using the disk-diffusion method as well as their β-hemolytic activity (important safety criteria for potential future applications). A total of 10 of the 18 APB were able to inhibit at least 50% of indicator bacteria tested, including methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA), among others. A total of 4 of the 18 APB (3 <i>Bacillus pumilus</i> and 1 <i>Bacillus altitudinis</i>) showed inhibitory activity against two of the four fungal pathogens tested (<i>B. cinerea</i> and <i>L. fungicola</i>), as well as against 5–7 of the 12 bacterial pathogen indicators; these 4 isolates showed susceptibility to the antibiotics tested and lacked β-hemolytic activity and were considered promising APB for use as potential biocontrol agents. In addition, one <i>Brevibacillus laterosporus</i> strain had activity against 83% of indicator bacteria tested including <i>Escherichia coli</i>, MRSA and other methicillin-resistant staphylococci, as well as vancomycin-resistant enterococci (but not against fungi). These results show that soil is a source of APB with relevant antibacterial and antifungal activities, and also emphasize the importance of education and science to raise public awareness of the AMR problem and the strategies to control it.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/13/1/29antimicrobial-producing bacteriabacteriocinbiocontrol agentsfungiMicroMundo projectsoil |
| spellingShingle | Mario Sergio Pino-Hurtado Rosa Fernández-Fernández Carmen Torres Beatriz Robredo Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol Agents Antibiotics antimicrobial-producing bacteria bacteriocin biocontrol agents fungi MicroMundo project soil |
| title | Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol Agents |
| title_full | Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol Agents |
| title_fullStr | Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol Agents |
| title_full_unstemmed | Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol Agents |
| title_short | Searching for Antimicrobial-Producing Bacteria from Soils through an Educational Project and Their Evaluation as Potential Biocontrol Agents |
| title_sort | searching for antimicrobial producing bacteria from soils through an educational project and their evaluation as potential biocontrol agents |
| topic | antimicrobial-producing bacteria bacteriocin biocontrol agents fungi MicroMundo project soil |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/13/1/29 |
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