A collected, and isolated microbe has been identified as eliciting effective antimicrobials against Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a ubiquitous, gram-negative, environmental pathogen readily located near the rhizosphere of plants, moist soil, and water. Despite its environmental origin, S. maltophilia is being recognized as an emerging nosocomial pathogen that is multidrug resistant. Favorable to humid environments, S. maltophilia thrives in medical devices such as catheters, ventilators, and endoscopes. In practice, this bacterium is bypassing host defense mechanisms, therefore able to colonize the body of an immunocompromised or immunosuppressed individual. The average mortality rate of S. maltophilia is 33.3% but is dependent upon comorbidities and the site of infection; however, the infection often emerges as a respiratory tract infection, bacteremia, or osteomyelitis. To combat the emergence of S. maltophilia and many more antibiotic-resistant pathogens, a project emerged encouraging the isolation of soil microbes for potential antimicrobial compounds. A microbe collected from the soil on Jacksonville University’s campus was isolated and successfully tested against S. maltophilia and various other pathogens. Further testing has demonstrated that this soil bacterium produces an antimicrobial compound that combats 24 strains of various drug-resistant bacteria including S. maltophilia, Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Identification was comprised of classification through the Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology with confirmation through 16s PCR.