Questions:
Motility is any movement by a cell, while chemotaxis, being more specific, is locomotion as the result of a chemical in the environment.
After analyzing the data gathered, it appears that the S. oneidensis is chemotactic. For Plate I, growth was seen in both strips on the 1X Nutrient Agar (NA) side. Thus, for the strip on which the inoculation point was on the water and agar side, the bacteria moved in response to the nutrients being on the other side. For Plate II, growth was visible on both sides of each strip, coordinating with the fact that each side was composed of 1X NA, a viable nutrient source that could act as the chemical that either draws the bacteria towards it or keeps it stationary. For Plate III, the strip which was inoculated on ¼X NA showed growth on both sides, again meaning that some bacteria moved towards the 1X NA side. The strip which was inoculated on the 1X NA side showed growth at the inoculation side but little to none on the…show more content… oneidensis that moved across the paper bridge did so as a chemotactic response because of the growth patterns on the three plates, as noted in the previous response. For Plate I, one would expect growth on the 1X NA sides, as occurred. For Plate II, one would expect growth on both sides, as occurred. For Plate III< one would expect more growth on the 1X NA side if the inoculation point was on the ¼ X NA side, and almost all growth on the 1X NA side if this was also the inoculation point, as occurred. To summarize, in almost all cases, no matter the inoculation point, the bacteria showed growth in the nutrient agar, or stronger concentration of nutrient agar depending on the plate. For bacteria with inoculation points opposite their place of growth, clear locomotion occurred. As the only factor differing between the sides of the plates was the type of agar, or level of nutrients, one can conclude that this motility was the result of the chemical, or nutrient, in the