Effect of Novel Antimicrobial Compounds on Fungal and Bacterial Pathogens

Authors

• Megan Wilderman, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Dr. Wayne Reikhof, Ph.D., School of Biological Sciences

Second Advisor

Dr. Alan Christensen, Ph.D., School of Biological Sciences

Date of this Version

3-30-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

Wilderman, M. (2026). Effect of novel antimicrobial compounds on fungal and bacterial pathogens (pp. 1–29) Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln. March 2026.

Comments

Copyright Megan Wilderman 2026.

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance is a growing concern in medicine¹ leading to a need for the development of novel compounds. Two compounds were tested in this study, 2-hydroxyethylhydrazine (HEH) and para-nitrophenyl-isocyanide (NPIC). HEH targets phosphatidylcholine (PC) production², and NPIC targets mitochondrial function³. Choline (Cho) is a compound that bypasses the inhibition of HEH through the Kennedy pathway.² Two-fold serial dilutions were conducted in 96-well plates to test the sensitivity of different bacteria to HEH and fungi to HEH and NPIC in different media types. A choline condition was also included in the HEH dilutions to test for recovery. After 24 hours, the OD of each plate was read at 600 nm. HEH was an effective antimicrobial compound against bacteria and fungi, and NPIC was effective against fungi. Sensitivity to both compounds was affected by a variety of factors including strain and media type. Choline also produced variable effects. In bacteria, choline did not have a major impact. In fungi, choline had a strong effect on Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains and variable effects on Candida strains. In bacteria, PC producing strains were more affected by HEH except for Staphylococcus epidermidis. In fungi, S. cerevisiae strains had higher minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and stronger choline recovery compared to Candida strains, likely due to evolutionary differences. Candida also showed more resistance to NPIC compared to S. cerevisiae, likely due to mitochondrial differences. Overall, HEH had lower MICs in bacteria compared to fungi. Future research should be conducted to further understand these compounds’ potential as antimicrobial agents.