Adaptation, Antibiotics, and Bacteria

Overview

Objectives/Goals My project had two main objectives. The first objective was to determine how effective some natural products are against bacteria. I used Coconut oil, Cayenne Pepper, Vinegar, my dog's drool, my Mom's drool, and molded cheese to see if they would prevent bacteria from growing. Once I established the first experiment, I tried to see in a second experiment if I could grow some bacteria that were resistant to those substances and determine if I could see adaptation and evolution of bacteria. Methods/Materials For experiment 1, I grew the bacteria overnight and then recorded the effect of the substances. I then took bacteria that could grow (and possibly resist the substance) and plated those again for experiment 2. In experiment 2, I again recorded how the substance affected growth of bacteria. All experiments were done twice to control for variation. Results Experiment 1. Substances that I used had different effects on the bacteria: Coconut oil and Moldy cheese had little effect on the bacteria. Mom's drool had some effect but not as strong an effect as Dog's drool, which was quite effective. Cayenne pepper controlled bacterial growth effectively. Vinegar had the strongest effect at controlling bacterial growth Experiment 2. We predicted that bacteria that were picked from the region of inhibition of a substance would be more effective at resisting that substance in experiment 2, yet this was not always the case. I could not see a difference in the 4 weaker substances. In the two stronger substances, Cayenne Pepper and Vinegar, I did see an effect, where bacteria seemed more resistant in experiment 2 than in experiment 1. Conclusions/Discussion In conclusion, I have found that some natural products do prevent the growth of E. coli. For the second experiment, I was expecting growth of bacteria in most plates. The experiment showed me that there was a marked effect on the strongest antibiotics and this may mean that this is where I can actually see results.

Competition history

• CSEF 2011 Microbiology (Medical) (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1602

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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