Soy May Help Fight Germs - Rekha Dhayakaran Featured in University of Guelph's CPES Alumni Newsletter (pdf) (link)
In the ongoing battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the newest weapon may come from plants. Rekha Dhayakaran, a PhD student in the School of Engineering, won first place in Project Soy’s graduate category for her research on the antimicrobial properties of soy. Project Soy is an annual competition that invites students to develop new products using soy. Her adviser, Prof. Suresh Neethirajan, suggested she study the phytochemicals found in soy, which the plant uses as a defence mechanism against foreign invaders such as fungi and parasites.
“We wanted to see if those isoflavones had antimicrobial efficacy against bacterial pathogens,” she says. Working with John Shi at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, they extracted and purified the isoflavones. At U of G, the isoflavones were tested on four types of bacteria: methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria and E. coli. The isoflavones were found to be most effective on the latter two bacteria.
Dhayakaran says her research has potential applications in the food industry to help prevent spoilage and in the medical field to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. She also studied soy peptides and found them to have antimicrobial effects. Previous research has shown that both isoflavones and peptides damage the cell membrane of bacteria, causing cell death. “I would like to thank my adviser Dr. Suresh Neethirajan and co-adviser Dr. John Shi for trusting me and giving me an amazing opportunity to work with them,” says Dhayakaran. “It was by their support, guidance, encouragement and motivation that I was able to participate and win Project Soy.”
Bionanotechnology Laboratory
Suresh Neethirajan
School of Engineering
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario
Canada N1G 2W1
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Lab: THRN 2133 BioNano Lab
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