Kaylee's research
Presentation title: E. coli Ribosome Variation Could be Causing Resistance to Antibiotics
Abstract: Ribosomes, which build proteins in the cell, all contain ribosomal RNA (rRNA) that is encoded by genes. Different rRNA sequences give them all distinct traits and possibly help them resist antibiotics. How strong this ability is, we don’t know yet, therefore the goal of this project is to test the limits of antibiotic resistance in the ribosome. This will be achieved by conducting minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays using ribosome-binding and non-ribosome-binding antibiotics against different strains of E.coli bacteria. These strains have been modified to only express a select few RNA combinations as well as one wild-type strain that expresses multiple at once. I found that all strains actually exhibited different inhibitions compared to the wild type. This means that the ribosome does impact the cell’s susceptibility to antibiotics like Minocycline, Tigecycline and Trimethoprim, but we have yet to find out how. Someday this could be used as a foundation for treating infections, weakening resistance or even for designing new medical drugs as a whole.
