Catalyst Project: Combating ESKAPE pathogens through discovery of novel antimicrobial and antibiofilm molecules

Catalyst项目为历史上的黑人学院和大学提供支持，以建立教师的研究能力，加强科学、技术、工程和数学本科教育和研究。预计该奖项将进一步提高教师的研究能力，提高学院的研究和教学水平，并让本科生参与研究经验。费耶特维尔州立大学（Fayetteville State University）的这个项目旨在研究土壤微生物，并确定它们产生的杀死细菌的化学物质。这些微生物和化学物质的鉴定将对理解生物膜具有重要意义。费耶特维尔州立大学的本科生将有机会进行研究。这项研究的目标是收集来自不同环境区域的土壤，如海洋、山区和自然保护区，确定生理培养条件，确定细菌产生的小分子化学物质，以努力了解这些生物如何杀死其他细菌，特别是ESKAPE病原体，同时不伤害自己。本研究的具体目标是：1)鉴定和表征对安全ESKAPE相对菌株产生抑菌作用的土壤微生物的理化性质；2)确定土壤微生物对安全ESKAPE相对菌株生物膜形成、扩散和基因表达的影响。本提案中概述的研究结果将增强我们对微生物-微生物相互作用的理解，并通过结合宏基因组学和计算方法的可靠的土壤微生物挖掘方法进一步推进抗生素发现的知识。拟议研究的实施将为代表性不足的群体提供一个机会，通过与北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校的合作，获得实践研究经验，获得最先进的设备和尖端技术，并建立一个由学生研究人员和教师组成的合作网络。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Catalyst Projects provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities to work towards establishing research capacity of faculty to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics undergraduate education and research. It is expected that the award will further the faculty member's research capability, improve research and teaching at the institution, and involve undergraduate students in research experiences. This project at Fayetteville State University intends to look at soil microbes and identify the chemicals they produce to kill bacteria. The identification of these microbes and chemicals will have implications in understanding biological films. Fayetteville State University undergraduate students will have the opportunity to perform research.The goal of the proposed study is to collect soil from various environmental areas such as oceanic, mountainous, and natural preserve regions, define the physiological cultural conditions and identify the chemistry of small molecules bacteria produce in efforts to understand how these organisms kill other bacteria, particularly ESKAPE pathogens, while not harming themselves. The specific objectives of the proposed research are 1) to identify and characterize the physical and chemical properties of antimicrobial producing soil microbes that inhibit safe-ESKAPE relative strains, and 2) determine the effect of soil microbes on biofilm formation, dispersal and gene expression of safe ESKAPE relative strains. The findings from the research outlined in this proposal will enhance our understanding of microbe-microbe interactions and further advance the knowledge of antibiotic discovery using a tried and true method of mining soil microbes coupled with a metagenomic and computational approach. The implementation of the proposed research will provide an opportunity for underrepresented groups to gain hands-on research experience, access state of the art equipment as well as cutting edge techniques through the collaboration with UNC Chapel Hill and develop a collaborative network of student researchers and faculty.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.