Studying antibiotic resistance of gut bacteria in Molgula manhattensis

In this project, we studied the antibiotic resistance of gut microbiome in sea squirt species Molgula Manhattensis–in order to learn about the effects of sewage overflow pollution on biological species that live in NYC's waterways. Marine gut microbiomes are under-studied and much is unknown about them; however, evidence has suggested that ascidians may harbor bacteria that release toxic metabolites in high stress/high disturbance environments in order to fight off competition. We used antibiotic disk assays & gram staining kits to study the bacterial population in ascidian guts, and found that both seawater and ascidian gut microbiome both contain (varied) antibiotic-resistant bacteria.