The activity of Aspergillus terreus ICMP 477 against antibiotic-sensitive and resistant strains of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and S. aureus by zone of inhibition assay

<p>To perform zone of inhibition (ZOI) testing, potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates were inoculated with a lawn of either antibiotic-sensitive <em>E. coli</em> (ATCC 25922) or resistant clinical isolates (CTX-M-9, CTX-M-14, CTX-M-15, NDM-1) or antibiotic-resistant <em>K. pneumoniae</em> (ATCC 700603, produces SHV-18). Similarly, Mueller-Hinton agar plates were inoculated with a lawn of either antibiotic-sensitive <em>S. aureus</em> (ATCC 29213) or antibiotic-resistant <em>S. aureus</em> (ATCC 33593). ICMP 477 was obtained from Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research and grown on PDA plates for 36 days and fungal plugs removed using a 6 mm punch biopsy tool (Amtech Medical, New Zealand). Fungal plugs were placed onto the bacterial lawns, alongside PDA plugs containing no fungus as a control. Plates were incubated inverted at 37°C for 24 h before measuring any zones of inhibition (in mm) produced.  A zone of 6 mm = no inhibition. Experiments were performed using three biological replicates with three technical replicates each.  </p>