Biology Investigatory Project

2022-2023
Name- Sneha Vaibhav Bagul
Class-XII
Roll No-32
Project Title- Effect of antibiotics on microorganisms
 St joseph’s High School-CBSE
Khanda Colony , New Panvel

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Ms. Sneha Vaibhav Bagul of class XII-B has prepared this project which is
the result of her efforts and endeavours. The project titled “Effect of antibiotics o microorgaisms”
Found project for the subject under the guidance of Ms. Priya Menon and as per the norms
provided by the CBSE.
External Examiner _____________________
Name-Sneha Vaibhav Bagul Internal Examiners Signature
Signature-______________

______________________
Principal Signature with stamp
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my sincere thanks to Ms. Leena Verma , principal , St. Joseph’s High
School for giving me an opportunity to elaborate my knowledge by completing
this project.
I am grateful to my school and the management system for providing the
required apparatus to perform my project work.
I pay my deep sense of gratitude to
Ms. Shradha Rasal , computer science teacher , to encourage me to prepare this
project. I am immensely obliged to my parents and friends for their endless
support and help throughout the completion of this project.
I am indebted to the God Almighty for providing me with everything I needed
Sneha Vaibhav Bagul , XII-B
EFFECT OF ANTIBIOTICS ON
MICROORGANISMS
1. Certificate
INDEX
2. Acknowledgement
3. Objective
4. Introduction
5. Theory
6. What are antibiotics ?
7. What are antibiotics made of ?
8. How do antibiotics work ?
9. What is antibiot
10. ic resistance?
1. Experimetal work
• Aim
• Materials required
• Procedure
• Observation
• Precaution
• Result
11. Conclusion
12. Bibliography
 OBJECTIVE
The objective of this project is to study the strength
and effectiveness of different antibodies on
microbial cultures and to also understand why and
how they work
 INTRODUCTION
Antibiotics have been widely used for several decades for human therapy and farming
production. Since a high percentage of antibiotics are discharged from the human or
animal body without degradation, this means that different habitats, from the human
body to river water or soils, are polluted with antibiotics.
In this situation , it is expected that the variable concentration of this type of microbial
inhibitor present in different ecosystems may affect the structure and productivity of the
microbiota colonizing such habitats. This effect can occur at different levels, including
changes in the overall structures of the population, selection of resistant organisms, or
alterations in bacterial physiology . In this review, I discuss the available information on
how the presence of antibiotics may alter the microbiota and the consequences of such
alterations for human health and the activity of microbiota from different habitats.
 Theory
Antibiotics are among the most successful drugs used in human therapy. In addition, they
have been used for several decades in animal growth promotion, prophylaxis,
metaphylaxis , treatment, and general farming production. The wide antibiotic use has led
to different habitats becoming polluted by a large range of concentration of antibiotics.
Since antibiotics are inhibitors of bacterial growth, this situation has an impact on the
structure and the activity of bacterial populations. The effect of antibiotics on bacterial
populations has mainly focused on the aspects related to human health, in particular the
selection of antibiotic-resistant mutants and the acquisition, selection, and spread of
antibiotic resistance genes. While this has obvious relevance to the treatment of infectious
diseases, other aspects of the roles that antibiotics may play in bacterial populations are
much less studied in comparison.
One aspect to be taken into consideration is that , when antibiotic treatment is needed, the
effects of the antimicrobial on the microbiome should be considered unavoidable side
effects.
 What are antibiotics ?
Antibiotics are medications used to fight infections caused by bacteria. They are also called
antibacterials. They treat infections by killing or decreasing the growth of bacteria.
The first modern-day antibiotic was used in 1936. Before antibiotics, 30% of all deaths in
the united states were caused by bacterial infections. Thanks to antibiotics, previously fatal
infections are curable.
Today, antibiotics are still powerful, lifesaving medications for people with certain serious
infections. They can also prevent less serious infections from becoming serious.
There are many classes of antibiotics. Certain types of antibiotics work best for specific
types of bacterial infections.
Antibiotics come in many forms, including:
• Tablets
• Capsules
• Liquids
• Creams
• Ointments
 What are antibiotics made of ?
The first beta-lactam antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by accident. It was growing from a
blob of mould o a petri dish. Scientists found that a certain type of fungus naturally produced
penicillin. Eventually, penicillin was produced in large amounts in a laboratory through
fermentation using the fungus.
Some other early antibiotics were produced by bacteria found in the ground soil.
Today, all antibiotic medications are produced in a lab. Some are made through a series of
chemical reactions that produce the substance used in the medication.
Other antibiotics are at least partly made through a natural but controlled process. This
process is often enhanced with certain chemical reactions that can alter the original
substance to a different medication.
 How do antibiotics work ?
Antibiotics work by blocking vital processes in bacteria, killing the bacteria or stopping them
from multiplying. This helps the body’s natural immune system to fight bacterial infection.
Different antibiotics work against different types of bacteria.
• Antibiotics that affect a wide range of bacteria are called broad-spectrum antibiotics
(eg , amoxicillin and gentamicin).
• Antibiotics that affect only a few types of bacteria are called narrow-spectrum
antibiotics(eg, penicillin)
Different types of antibiotics work in different ways. For example, penicillin destroys bacterial
cell walls, while other antibiotics can affect the way the bacterial cell works.
Doctors choose an antibiotic according to the bacteria that usually cause a particular
infection. Sometimes your doctor will do a test to identify the exact type of bacteria causing
your infection and its sensitivity to particular antibiotics.
 What is antibiotic resistance ?
Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria change to protect themselves from an
antibiotic. Bacteria become resistant when their genes mutate after being in contact with an
antibiotic. These changes allow the bacteria to survive or resist the antibiotic so that the
antibiotic o longer works to kill the bacteria or stop them from multiplying.
Unfortunately, bacteria can also develop antibiotic resistance through contact with other
bacteria. Resistant bacteria can pass their genes to other bacteria, forming a new antibiotic-
resistant strain of the bacteria.
The more antibiotics are used, the more chances bacteria have to become resistant to them.
As more antibiotics stop working against bacterial infections, doctors will have fewer
antibiotics to use. Many common infections may eventually become untreatable with
medicines.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that antibiotic resistance is one of the
greatest threats to global public health today.
 Experiment 1
AIM: This project aims to study the effect of antibiotics on microorganisms.
INTRODUCTION: Antibiotics are the organic secretions produced by microorganisms,
which in low concentrations are antagonistic to the growth of other microorganisms (mostly
pathogens). Antibiotics have proved very useful in combating several bacterial diseases in
man and animals. Antibiotics are commonly obtained from actinomycetes and some
eubacteria. Some of the important antibiotics are streptomycin, aureomycin, teramycin,
chloromycetin, neomycin etc.
Soil is a natural medium that harbours several types of microorganisms. These micro-
organisms can be grown on culture media. The effect of different types of antibiotics can be
studied on the growth of microorganisms growing in culture medium. This is an important
subject, therefore the study of effect of antibiotics on microorganisms has been taken for the
present project.
MATERIALS REQUIRED: Potato agar, dextrose, beef, peptone, NACL, sodium bicarbonate,
distilled water, five different types of antibiotics (such as penicillin, streptomycin,
aureomycin, terramycin and chloromycetin), syringe, oven sterilized petri dishes, flask,
beakers, pipettes, garden soil, glass marker pen etc.
Procedure:
A. Preparation of culture medium
1. Potato dextrose agar(PDA) medium
• Take 200g of peeled potato chips. Boil them with 500ml of water in a beaker for 15
minutes.
• Squeeze the potato pulp thus obtained through a muslin cloth and keep it in a flask.
• Take 20g of agar in a beaker and warm it with 500 ml of water.
• Mix both the solution of potato and agar and add 20g dextrose to it.
• Thus one litre of PDA medium is prepared.
• Autoclave the medium at 15 pounds pressure for 15 minutes.
2. Meat extract agar medium
• Weigh 3g beef extract, 10g peptones, 5g NACL and mix these in 1 litre of distilled water.
• Heat the mixture to 65 degree Celsius stirring until the material is completely dissolved.
• Filter the mixture through filter paper and adjust the pH to 7.2 to 7.6 by adding a bit of
sodium bicarbonate.
• Add 20g agar to the broth and autoclave the medium at 15 pounds pressure for 15 minutes.
B.Effects of antibiotics on soil micro-organisms
• Take 2g of soil and dissolve it in 10 ml water in a beaker. Let the soil particle settle down.
• Take 5 oven sterilized petri dishes and pour 1 ml of soil suspension into each of the plates.
Now pour 1 ml of the four antibiotics separately into four petri dishes with the help of a
syringe, and mark them with a marker pen. Leave the fifth petri dish without antibiotics to
serve as a control.
• Pour PDA into each of the petri dishes and mix the suspension by rotating the petri dishes.
Leave the petri dishes undisturbed in a warm place.
OBSERVATION: The effect of different antibiotics on the microorganisms can be assessed by
counting the number and size of the colonies growing in the petri dishes.
SR NO. ANTIBIOTICS NO OF COLONIES IN A PETRI
DISH
1 Penicillin Nil

2. Streptomycin 2-3

3. Tetramycin Nil

4. Chloromycetin 1-2

5. Control 30-40

PRECAUTIONS:
• Do not expose culture of the petri dish to the atmosphere.
• Sterilise the petri dishes properly in the oven before use.
• Use proper kind of stains for different types of microorganisms.
RESULT: Penicillin and terramycin were the most effective antibiotic against
microorganisms in the soil with streptomycin and chloromycetin not too far behind.
The surviving colonies of microorganisms in the petri dish may have developed a
resistance to the stated antibiotics and there is a high possibility that the antibiotic would
be less and less effective on future generations of the surviving colonies.
PRECAUTIONS:
Several important steps can be taken to ensure proper and effective antibiotic use:
• TAKE ANTIBIOTICS ONLY FOR BACTERIAL IFECTIONS: Dot use antibiotics for conditions
caused by viruses such as common cold, flu, cough, or sore throat.
• TAKE ANTIBIOTICS AS DIRECTED BY A HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL: Using the wrong
dose, skipping doses, or taking it longer or shorter than directed might contribute to
bacterial resistance. Even if you feel better after a few days, talk with your healthcare
professional before discontinuing an antibiotic.
• TAKE THE RIGHT ANTIBIOTIC: Using the wrong antibiotic for an infection might lead to
resistance. Don’t take antibiotics prescribed for someone else. Also don’t take
antibiotics left over from a previous treatment. Your healthcare professional will be
able to select the most appropriate antibiotic for your specific type of infection.
CONCLUSION:
Antibiotics are a very effective tool to fight against bacterial infections and have
overall improved the life of humans as a race but it does not come without any side
effects. Improper and irregular use of antibiotics cause microorganisms to develop
resistance against them and hence require newer generations of antibiotics to be
developed to help fight against them, Antibiotic resistance is considered a great risk
to our future. Antibiotics in dome cases also cause side effects such as diarrhea,
nausea and vomiting in humans and may even disrupt natural ecosystems when
introduced to them ( the effect of these antibiotics on microorganisms in the soil is
shown in the experiment above). The only way to combat these side effects is to
spread awareness about the precautions of using antibiotics and consulting a
licensed doctor before turning to antibiotics as a magic solution to your ailment.
BIBLOGRAPHY:
1) WEBSITE
a) www.nps.org.au
b) www.healthline.com
c) genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com
d) www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
e) www.Wikipedia.org
f) www.reddit.com

2) BOOKS
a) Comprehensive practical manual
b) NCERT class XII
THANK YOU