The negative control plates are used to determine the standard deviation variance which tells us whether the compound is a hit or not. The positive control plates were used as a comparison of a known, effective antibiotic.
The well-plate setup tested all the different dilution concentrations of the compound that we made in the lab. In order to do this, each dilution was pipetted into the wells in duplicate and mixed with Salmonella. The negative control (DMSO) was pipetted into row 3 and the positive control (Ampicillin) was pipetted into row 4, both beneath the dilutions. The well-plate was then run through a spectrophotometer 24 hours later in order to determine the absorbance. This shows the growth or death of Salmonella quantifying the effectiveness of the antibiotic.
Alpha-Pinene is an effective antibiotic because our experiment supports the idea that this compound is bactericidal. This means that the compound kills the bacteria instead of merely inhibiting the growth of the bacteria. It can be inferred that this compound will have similar effects against other gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria like Salmonella. However, more experiments should be conducted with gram-positive bacteria with different structures in order to determine the compound’s efficacy against other types of bacteria.
You mentioned that you would want to do experiments to see what the lowest effective dose would be, what was the lowest dose you were able to successfully able to stop bacteria growth with?
It can be seen in the first graph under the results section that the max dose at a 97% concentration and the dilution of 48.5% concentration were both statistical hits. This 48.5% concentration was our lowest hit.
What did your positive and negative control plates tell you?
The negative control plates are used to determine the standard deviation variance which tells us whether the compound is a hit or not. The positive control plates were used as a comparison of a known, effective antibiotic.
Could you explain again the well-plate set up and what the well-plate tells you?
The well-plate setup tested all the different dilution concentrations of the compound that we made in the lab. In order to do this, each dilution was pipetted into the wells in duplicate and mixed with Salmonella. The negative control (DMSO) was pipetted into row 3 and the positive control (Ampicillin) was pipetted into row 4, both beneath the dilutions. The well-plate was then run through a spectrophotometer 24 hours later in order to determine the absorbance. This shows the growth or death of Salmonella quantifying the effectiveness of the antibiotic.
What makes alpha-pinene so effective against fighting Salmonella? Would it be as effective against other types of bacteria?
Alpha-Pinene is an effective antibiotic because our experiment supports the idea that this compound is bactericidal. This means that the compound kills the bacteria instead of merely inhibiting the growth of the bacteria. It can be inferred that this compound will have similar effects against other gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria like Salmonella. However, more experiments should be conducted with gram-positive bacteria with different structures in order to determine the compound’s efficacy against other types of bacteria.
You mentioned that you would want to do experiments to see what the lowest effective dose would be, what was the lowest dose you were able to successfully able to stop bacteria growth with?
It can be seen in the first graph under the results section that the max dose at a 97% concentration and the dilution of 48.5% concentration were both statistical hits. This 48.5% concentration was our lowest hit.