Misuse of antibiotics has resulted in antibiotic resistance being at an all time high. Microbiologists are seeking new antibiotics to solve the problem. We tested whether combining antibiotic-producing bacteria increased their antibiotic production. Three uncharacterized bacteria displaying antibiotic production were used andLysobacter antibioticus was used as a control for antibiotic-production. We tested whether the combinations of 2 or 3 antibiotic-producing bacteria were more effective at producing antibiotics than individual bacteria. Isolated bacteria were combined and tested against Bacillus subtilis, a Gram-positive bacterium, and Escherichia coli, a Gram-negative bacterium, by spread-plating E. coli or B. subtilis on nutrient agar plates and spotting the individual or combined bacteria. Plates were incubated overnight at 37C and checked for inhibition of growth of E. coli and B. subtilis. Bacterial growth is inhibited when antibiotics are present, and a zone of inhibition is observed. A zone of inhibition was not observed whether individual or combined bacteria were spotted. The control inhibited the growth of B. subtilis. The combination of the bacteria used was not more efficient than the individual bacteria. Future research could focus on the question "If the control was mixed with these bacteria, would the control have lost its antibiotic production trait?"
