Unknown Bacteria Report

2213 Words9 Pages
Identifying bacterial species has importance in many different settings, including research and clinical settings. Being able to identify and characterize bacterial pathogens is imperative to understanding how bacteria affect humans and how to treat a patient with the appropriate medication and treatment (1). There are several different approaches and methods to identifying unknown bacteria, but this experiment will focus on the use of physiological testing to identify the bacteria. In order to correctly deduce the bacterial species of the unknown, the bacteria will be isolated as a pure culture, gram-stained and run through a series of biochemical tests that will distinguish the physiological properties of the bacteria. The physiological tests performed will test the bacteria’s ability to grow under certain conditions, undergo fermentation, generate specific end products and express particular enzymes. Using a set of initial tests and comparing the…show more content…
Using a sterile needle, a colony of unknown bacteria was inoculated by stabbing the needle straight through the agar tube. The tube was incubated at 35°C for 1 day and assayed for motility. A hazy appearance surrounding the stabbed area on the agar indicates the bacteria have moved through the agar and is therefore a positive test for flagellated, motile bacteria. Differential Physiological Tests: Based on my results obtained in the 7 preliminary tests, I was able to narrow down the possible bacterial species of my unknown. To further determine the correct genus and species of the unknown from the remaining families, 4 additional tests were used to differentiate the bacteria and identify the single species. These tests include acid production from sugars (adonitol, d-sorbitol and l-rhamnose) and malonate utilization. Acid Production from Sugars: Adonitol, D-Sorbitol and

More about Unknown Bacteria Report

Open Document