Bacteria Lab Report
INTRODUCTIONTrillions of bacteria inhabit the Earth, with some
of them classified and some of them yet to be discovered. Often
scientists work with bacteria that do not come in a labeled test
tube, like for example, bacterial samples taken from infected human
tissue or from the soil, and they must then identify the unknown
microorganism in order to understand what behavior to expect from
it, such as a certain type of infection or antibiotic resistance.
However, because of the fewer forms of bacteria compared to
animals, and because of the lack of bacterial fossil records due to
their asexually reproductive nature, the taxonomy used to classify
animals cannot be applied to bacteria (Brown 275). In order to
classify unknown bacteria, a variety of physiological and metabolic
tests are available to narrow a sample down from the fathomless
number of possibilities into a more manageable range. Once these
tests have been performed, the researcher can consult with a
systematically arranged and continually updated collection of all
known bacteria based on their structure, metabolism, and other
attributes.The purpose of this experiment was to determine the
bacteria sample you have grown from a specific part of the school,
and then start testing its physical properties based on the
resources we were given and told to do. We went to three places:
the animal room, the gym, and the exercise room. We put our samples
on three Petri dishes and waited for several days. The bacteria
from the animal room grew the most, but yet the bacteria from the
other two didnt grow that much. However, to me, of the three
locations we visited, I believe the gym would be a place with a lot
of bacteria, because the seats found all throughout the gym had a
bunch of sticky, yucky pieces of gum and other strange substances
on them, which is probably something that bacteria are attracted
to. In addition, the gym had an odor, which could also be because
of all the bacteria. However, my hypothesis was wrong about it and
the animal room, as it seems, had the most bacteria. Now that we
know that, we can start on determining what type of bacteria our
sample is.
METHODSWe observed the organisms colony morphology by doing a
straightforward procedure. To test for the presence of an
extracellular lipopolysaccharide membrane, we were told to put the
sample on a glass slide. After that, we put the glass slide facing
the bacteria in the fire quickly, and then took it out fast, using
the Bunsen burner. The heat-fixed smears were then created and Gram
stained. The smears were stained with crystal violet for 90 seconds
and then rinsed for 2 seconds. Then, we covered the mordant iodine
for 60 seconds. After that, we decolorized the chemicals with 70%
ethyl alcohol for 20 seconds, and then rinsed again for another 2
seconds. For the final step, we stained the slide with safranin for
60 seconds, and rinsed. We then blotted the back of the slide dry
with paper towel, left the bacteria side alone, and examined it
under a microscope for cell shape, as well as whether the cells
stained Gram-positive (purple) or Gram-negative (pink). A pink
stain would indicate an extracellular lipopolysaccharide membrane,
whereas a purple stain would show a lack of this membrane. The
shape, size, and color of the colonies were observed and
recorded.
RESULTSTable 1 Gram Stain Test ResultsGram StainSimple Stain
Observationscells appeared pinkCells appeared a bit circular,
and the groups of them were in large chunks
ResultGram-negativecocci
Table 1 shows the observations and results we came up with for
the unknown bacteria. The Gram stain was performed several times to
insure accuracy.
Figure 1 Basic Shapes of BacteriaFigure 1 shows the different
forms of most bacteria. Our bacterium looks somewhat similar to a
cluster of cocci, meaning the just one bacterium by itself is a
coccus.
Figure 2 Shapes of Bacteria in Clusters or Groups
Figure 2 shows the names of clustered bacteria, or bacteria in
groups. The unknown bacterium appears to take the staphylococcus
shape since it is seen in chunks or clusters.
Figure 3 Actual Picture of the Bacteria
Figure 3 shows the actual picture of the bacteria we grew from
our sample that was on the microscope. Notice how the bacterium is
much clustered and somewhat circular and round.DISCUSSIONBased on
the results we got, the bacteria would most likely fit in the
Neisseria genus, because it is found mostly in chunks. We got our
sample from an animal cage and this group of bacteria lives on
animals, as well as humans. It also a normal type of bacteria that
we encounter every day. In fact, 11 species of Neisseria live on
humans, along with two of them, N. meningitidisandN. gonorrhoeae,
being pathogens. When looking at the slide, the bacterium appears a
bit circular, which could possibly mean that it has a
staphylococcus shape. The bacterium was determined to be
Gram-negative, because it had a basic pink color. This means that
the bacterium has a lipopolysaccharide membrane. The texture seems
very rough, and the size of each cell seems to be extremely small.
You really cannot see the physical structure of one cell because of
how small it looks. I think it could possibly be Neisseria, because
it was Gram negative, very clustered, somewhat circular, and
possibly because it is a type of bacteria that we are with
throughout much of our lives. This was all of the basic data and
results we could come up with. I really couldnt figure out what
type of bacteria it is because we only tested one thing, the
physical properties, and nothing else. Also, our bacterium was very
close in a groups or chunks, so we really could not determine the
shape of the bacteria. What we could have done in addition was to
add pH or even in different environments to determine what it was.
For example, we could tested the bacterias metabolic state to test
whether the bacterium ferments sugars in order to produce ATP for
energy, along with using tubes containing glucose, lactose, and
mannitol that were inoculated and incubated. Another example would
include determining the bacterias physiological characteristics,
which included in testing the bacterias need for oxygen, and its
growth depending on specific environments through pH or even
temperature levels. These results would have been more formal than
the results we had, like the enzyme lab we did, but it would have
been more longer, but interesting to do as well. I also know that
we would probably no time to those suggested experiments, but it
would have been a much more professional way to classify the
bacteria that we grew.
RESOURCES1. Brown, Alfred E. Bensons Microbiological
Applications: Laboratory Manual in General Microbiology, Short
Version, Eleventh Edition. New York: The McGraw-HillCompanies,
Inc., 2009. Print.2. Hensyl, William. Bergey's Manual of
Determinative Bacteriology. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams and
Wilkins, 2000. Print.3. "Bacteria."Microbiology Online. Society for
General Microbiology. Web. 16 Dec. 2014. 4. "Bacteria Basics - They
Are Alive!"Biology4Kids.com: Microorganisms: Bacteria. Andrew Rader
Studios. Web. 20 Dec. 2014. 5. "Streptococci and Oral
Streptococci."Bite Sized Tutorials, Streptococci and Oral
Streptococci. Newcastle University. Web. 21 Dec. 2014. 6. "The
Size, Shape, And Arrangement Of Bacterial Cells."Functional Anatomy
Of Prokaryotic And Eukaryotic Cells. Midlands Technical College.
Web. 21 Dec. 2014.