Isolating, Screening, and Identifying Bacteria and Fungi for Antimicrobial Natural Products

Overview

Mangrove ecosystems around the world have a notably high species diversity, especially due to their vast microbial communities. Those diverse communities are most commonly found packed within the soil of the terrain. Due to the high density of microorganisms within the soil, there is inevitable competition for resources and space. The microorganisms develop defense mechanisms against each other to raise their chance of survival. In modern day medicine, utilizing these biological defense mechanisms to develop medications that treat microbe-related illnesses has become quite common; These developments are referred to as natural products. Many studies have looked into mangrove soil microbiomes around the world in search for new natural products. The research is justified due to the findings of significant difference in biodiversity amongst different mangrove-housing regions. This project assessed the microbiome of Florida mangrove soils to find new antimicrobial natural products. Two organisms within the soil presented antifungal characteristics against Aspergillus niger. The secondary metabolites of one of the two organisms were extracted and also showed antifungal characteristics against Aspergillus niger. Metagenomic sequencing was used to determine the organisms that were found within the mangrove soil samples. 14 fungal species and 5 bacterial species were identified, as well as 2 bacterial genuses unclassified at species level. The soil biodiversity was compared to Indian mangrove soil biodiversity to prove that the microbial communities within each region's mangrove soil differed. In conclusion, the exploration of mangrove soil microbiomes for natural products has revealed promising paths for developing medications against microbe-related illnesses, utilizing the rich diversity of these ecosystems and highlighting the differences in microbial communities between regions around the world.

Competition history

• AJAS 2025 Category not listed

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