Creation of a bacterial library based on strains isolated from soil of Azerbaijan and their screening for the presence of new antibacterial biomolecules

The major goal of the research project carried out during the years 2014 - 2018 was to establish a library of microorganisms, including novel, previously uncultured bacterial species, isolated from soil of Azerbaijan, and their antibacterial screening. For this, 30 soil samples were collected from different zones of Azerbaijan and sent to the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology for bacterial isolation and screening. 578 bacterial strains were isolated from 30 soil samples and a new bacterial library was created. All 578 isolated strains were analyzed for antibacterial activity against two gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis) and two gram-negative (Escherichia coli) pathogenic strains by growth inhibition assay. 62 isolates showed an antibacterial activity against at least one pathogenic indicator organism. After supernatant screening, 14 isolates showed an inhibitory activity in cell-free culture supernatant.