Functional or Just Plain Pretty? A Reevaluation of Bacterial Pigment Activity

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dc.contributor.advisorMorvillo, Nancy
dc.contributor.authorLake, Meaghan
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-10T19:11:37Z
dc.date.available2022-05-10T19:11:37Z
dc.date.issued2022-05
dc.descriptionHonors Thesis Spring 2022
dc.description.abstractSerratia marcescens and Chromobacterium violaceum are both gram-negative opportunistic pathogenetic bacteria that produce the pigments prodigiosin and violacein, respectively. These secondary metabolites have been demonstrated to act as antibiotic compounds effective against pathogenic bacteria, which could be of future therapeutic importance. In this study, the pigments were purified environmental samples of S. marcescens and C. violaceum previously identified as antibiotic producers. These pigments were tested for antibiotic activity under three conditions: individually, together, and in combination with the antibiotic neomycin. No antibiotic activity or enhancement of neomycin was seen in either pigment. Efforts to reactivate the antibiotic production included altering the growth conditions for S. marcescens and C. violaceum and challenging these bacteria with other competing bacterial species. While pigment production was robust, antibiotic activity was not restored. These results demonstrate that the pigment alone does not induce bacteriostatic or bactericidal properties, indicating other cofactors may play a role in antibiotic production within the bacteria.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11416/613
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherFlorida Southern Collegeen_US
dc.subjectSerratia marcescensen_US
dc.subjectChromobacterium violaceumen_US
dc.subjectPigments (Biology)en_US
dc.subjectAntibiotic-producing organismsen_US
dc.titleFunctional or Just Plain Pretty? A Reevaluation of Bacterial Pigment Activityen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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