User:Emily R. Lafferman/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

1/21/15 This is the second time! But now I love protists!

Lab Notebook Entry I 1/22/15 Identifying Algae & Protists The purpose of this lab was to become familiar with the use of a dichotomous key to identify organisms and in doing so, examine the different characteristics displayed by various algae and protists from Transect 1. Methods The first procedure focused on learning how to accurately use the dichotomous key to identify known organisms on a wet mount under the microscope. Once comfortable with this skill, the dichotomous key was used to identify unknown organisms under the 4X and 10X objectives. The second procedure involved making wet mounts of samples from the hay infusion culture obtained the week previous. After noting all observations of these samples, the dichotomous key was again used to identify as many present organisms as possible. The third procedure required prepping and plating serial dilutions of samples from the hay infusion culture, once it had been swirled (allowing the settled niches of the organisms to blend). 100 mL tubes of sterile broth were labeled and 100 microliters of the hay infusion culture was micropippeted into the first tube and shaken. 100 microliters was transferred from tube 1 to tube 2 in similar fashion until all four tubes are ready. Agar plates were subsequently labeled and 100 microliters from each tube was transferred to each plate - this process was repeated for the plates containing antibiotic tetracycline. All samples were spread evenly across the plates in a sterile manner to avoid contamination and error. The plates were then set aside to incubate and room temperature for lab 3. Data, Observations, & Findings Procedure I -unknonwn organism found under microscope was approximately 20 micrometers in length -colorless, swimming quickly with cilia, maintained an ovular body shape -> narrowed down to be colpidium sp

Procedure II: Hay Infusion Culture of Transect 1 sample presented a sour, foul odor, with a green, cloudy marsh-like appearance that had a thin solidified layer on top. Observations Organism 1 Organism 2 Organism 3 Size 120 µm 22 µm 400 µm Color Colorless Colorless Colorless Movement Cilia all over, fast Swimming, no cilia, 2 flagella Swimming, cilia all over Shape Circular, no on stalk Round Round, colony of cells Dichotomous Key Finding Didinium Chlamydomonas Volvox Sketch of Organism

Conclusions Two organisms found in the sample are a part of the Volvocine Line, as the chlamydomonas and volvox identified can be found in environments with characteristics similar to those of Transect 1.