Although I didn't try it myself it should be quite trivial
Get (or make yourself) some Soil extract agar (e.g.
http://www.himedialabs.com/TD/M455.pdf). Autoclave the medium, add
antifungal (such as amphotericin B, aka fungizon; 2g/L) and the
different antibiotics you wish to test resistance too (what ever you can
get). Now get soil from different locations, mix well with water, let
sediment and pour a little liquid (~0.2ml) on the plates. Wait for
growth (I suggest room temperature for a few days but temperature and
time could have an effect). As a control use plates without antibitics
and/or w/o antifungal.
IMPORTANT as you don't know what will grow and one can easily grow
pathogens (although not likely) or allergenic producing microbes make
sure to wrap your plates in masking tape or place them inside small
plastic bags, so they don't open by mistake. Further more, do not allow
the students to open the plates. Finely make sure you autoclave the
plates or discard them as medical waste.
Also see attached paper.
Yoram
Yoram Gerchman Ph.D.
Biology and Environment
University of Haifa in Oranim
Israel
>To whom it may concern, I am a high school science teacher on Long Island, New York. I work with students
>who have an interest in science research. We wanted to know if there is a protocol that we could use to >screen soil for antibiotic resistant (different antibiotics) bacteria in a way that would in some broad way allow >us to id the basic bacteria type. Any help that someone could offer would be greatly appreciated.
>Thanks >Richard Kurtz
>Science Department Commack High School 1 Scholar Lane Commack, NY 11725 (631) 912-2259
>rkurtz from commack.k12.ny.us [1]<mailto:rkurtz from commack.k12.ny.us [1]>
Links:
------
[1] http://www.bio.net/biomail/listinfo/microbio
