Identifying an Unknown Culture, Lab Report Example

Abstract

It is essential to be able to determine the identity of bacteria because various strains are responsible for making us sick and keeping us healthy. Therefore, it is necessary to employ a series of microbiology techniques to ensure that this identification process is correct. It has been hypothesized that multiple microbiology techniques, including microscopy, are needed to identify an unknown strain of bacteria. The endospore strain and gram stain yielded positive results. Furthermore, the oxygen requirement determined that the unknown bacterium

was a facultative anaerobe. It was therefore conclude that the genus of the unknown bacteria was Bacillus. Future studies will need to be conducted to determine the specific species of the bacteria. Additional nutrition, metabolism, and microscope will be sufficient for this purpose.

Introduction

The ability to identify unknown bacterial colonies is a useful technique in both the medical and research professions. The identity of bacterial colonies can be determined by first streaking a colony on a plate and then utilizing a series of analytic techniques including chemical staining, determination of oxygen and nutrition requirements, ideal growth temperature identification, and gram positive and gram negative status. This is helpful because it allows microbiologists to determine a variety of bacterial properties that can be used to characterize a particular strain of microbe. Techniques such as serial dilution can be used to ensure that an exploratory amount of colonies grow on an agar plate. It is hypothesized that a combination of all of the aforementioned techniques in addition to microscopy will be necessary to identify an unknown strain of bacteria.

Methodology

In the first part of the experiment,   an unidentified sample which had been derived from the natural environment was reviewed. This sample was determined to be a toxic aged mushroom. The sample was placed in a thiogylcollate broth.

Thioglycollate broth

It would be assumed that founded on the outcome that the growth would pervade through the test tube. This infers that the sample is a facultative bacterium. This is determined as a result of the characteristic that the colonies grow well in the presence of aerobic respiration. In addition, the growth has demonstrated that it can develop in the absence of oxygen. The manifestation possesses a green hue. It appears to have increased.  Notwithstanding, the increase, the sample´s growth did not manifest to the bottom aspect of the test tube.

These characteristics demonstrate that the bacteria have not developed in a solely aerobic surrounding. These are the outcomes of the PB+G pertaining to the unidentified samples that were derived from the natural environment. In the review of the tubes, it is apparent that the sample did not manufacture acid. In the tube where the oil is absent, there were a relatively scarce amount of bubbles. The presence of bubbles shows that gas is being produced in the tube. In the tube where the PB+ G was present with oil, there were no bubbles manifested.

POGIL Question

What do these terms mean: Psychrophile, mesophile, and facultative thermophile?

Psychrophile- these are organisms that thrive in cold temperatures

Mesophile- These are organisms that thrive at normal temperatures, not too cold or too hot

Thermophile- These are organisms that thrive in hot temperatures.

Results and Discussion

Reviewing the outcome of the TGYA shake test tube there had been some constant growth of the species in the test tube. It was perceived that the agent was of the classification of a facultative anaerobe. This is attributed that the sample developed at the bottom of the test tube where there had been no oxygen and at the top of the test tube where there had been oxygen. These outcomes supported the assumptions that the unknown sample was not of the classification of the Alcaligenes faecalis species due to its characteristic of being an obligate aerobe.

Mushrooms are part of the fungi species. Humans and fungi are more interrelated than are plants to humans or fungi to humans. The fungi evolved from the plants more than 400 million years ago. The plant type diseases do not usually affect humans. Diseases that are inherent in fungi affect the human system. As fungi and humans have mutual microbial antagonists that include Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeringosa and Staphylococcus aureus, humanity can derive advantages that are an outcome of the inherent defensive strategies that fungi apply in order to defend themselves from infectious bacteria.

A malignant form of Escherichia coli was discovered in the water supply for the city of Portland Oregon. Many of the restaurants were prohibited from opening and the majority of the city’s population were admonished not to drink the tap water. There is an innovative solution. Paul Stametz, a mycobiologist, perceived that cities that include Portland, Oregon should consider a traditional and logical solution. This solution would involve using old fungi as filtration systems for the water supply in order to protect the population’s drinking water from invasive bacteria that include Escherichia coli (Antiaging Dentists 1).

Stametz produced a technology that optimizes this capacity for the application in rural and municipal aquatic systems. The filtration device would be composed of running the water through the wood chips that have accumulated fungi in order to provide immunization against contracting the Escherichia coli bacteria from the drinking water supply. This process is designated as mycofiltration. Stametz deems the process as mycofiltration (Trimarco 1).

Over twenty years ago, when the Environmental Protection Agency expressed preoccupation over the problem of bacterial agents being transmitted from antique septic tanks in the community, Stemetz experimented with applying the fungi to purify the water. The agents that were applied by Stemetz included yard refuse and deadly old mushrooms. The lesson that could be learned from Stemetz experiments is the following:”biodiversity is equal to biosecurity” (qtd. in Trimarco 1).

As an outcome of the examinations, it was determined that the species was Escherichia coli. This determination was made with regards to the oxygen characteristics in the test tube (OECD 262).

Bibliography

Graumann P. Bacillus: Cellular and Molecular Biology (2nd ed.). Caister Academic Press, 2012. Print.

Hogg S. Essential Microbiology (1st ed.). Wiley, 2005.Print.

OECD. Assessing microbial safety of drinking water improving approaches and methods: Improving approaches and methods. Paris, France: OECD, 2003. Print.

“Special leaves and fungi”. Antiaging Dentists, n.d. Web. 2 October 2014. http://antiagingdentist.com/breakfast/plain/LEAVES%20%20SEA%20VEGGIES%20%20FUNGI/NGL.htm

Trimarco, James. “Portland’s E.coli scare: How mushrooms could have helped prevent it.” Yes Magazine, 5 May 2014. Web. 2 October 2014.http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/portland-s-e-coli-scare-how-mushrooms-could-have-helped-prevent-it.

Turnbull PCB.”Bacillus”. In: Barron’s Medical Microbiology (Baron S et al., eds.) (4th ed.). University of Texas Medical Branch, 1996. Print.