Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among bacterial pathogens is rising all around the world, and by 2050 approximately 10 million deaths could be attributed to the lack of effective antimicrobials to treat infections caused by these pathogens. This highlights the need for the discovery and development of new antimicrobials used to combat this threat. Therefore, students in Sacramento State’s Diversity of Microorganisms course search for antibiotic producing bacteria to aid in discovering potential new antibiotics. A bacterial strain with antibiotic properties, TE34922, showed promise in killing both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. To investigate the genes responsible for encoding the antibiotic properties of TE34922 we sequenced the genome using the Illumina NextSeq2000 platform. We assembled the genome using the Kbase genome assembly pipeline and determined TE34922 to belong to the genus Pseudomonas. Using the assembled genome we employed the antiSMASH algorithm to search for the presence of biosynthetic gene clusters within TE34922 and we identified the presence of 11 biosynthetic gene clusters that encode for 7 potential antimicrobial compounds that strain TE34922 could produce. To determine the genes responsible for antimicrobial production, we generated a library of mutants using transposon mutagenesis. We are currently screening forty-two mutants in hopes of elucidating the antibiotic properties of TE34922.