User:Student 58/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU
LAB 4 FEB 4, 2016
PURPOSE The purpose of this lab is to examine the plants and fungi that were found in the transect. By being able to identify what plants and fungi, we will be able to understand their contributing part of the ecosystem more in-depth.
Materials and Methods
- 2 Ziploc bags
- phone camera
- 50:50 ethanol/water solution
- conical tube
- screening material
- scissors
- tape
- funnel
- ring stand
- 40 watt lamp
- foil
Data and Observations
Ziploc bags and cellphone cameras were used to collect and document samples from transect #2. We found an area with soft soil (everything was pretty soft since it had just rained/snowed) and picked up dead leaves for our leaf liter sample. We collected about 25-30 leaves (~500g). We also searched for representative samples from five plants and collected a seed, a flower bud, a bushel of flower petals, a long leaf, and a short leaf. The images of the organisms are below along with a map of where they were found. Also, every producre in the lab could be documented in the table at the end. Instead of the table, descriptions under each image include the information from the table and therefor the lab procedures.
.... ALE
LAB 3 JAN 28, 2016
PURPOSE The purpose of this lab is to see what organisms are found in the hay infusion. We will be able to see if they are gram positive or negative, their motility, and their resistance to tetracycline.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
- Hay Infusion Culture (*prepared previous week)
- Latex Gloves
- Microscope
- (8) Slides and slide covers
- Transfer pipettes
- Dichotomous Key (*aid in identifying microorganisms)
- Crystal Violet
- Distilled water
- Alcohol Decolorizer
- Iodine
- Safranin
DATA AND OBSERVATIONS
Hay Infusion after two weeks: There was still no order coming from the infusion, but half of the water had evaporated. There is almost nothing left in there, it primarily looks like dirty water. There is some dirt at the bottom, however the top layer has also extremely reduced. I hypothesis that there was not enough in the Hay Infusion that the organisms died, and the water evaporated from the laboratory classroom lights and the air could have been very dry this past week, that the air needed the moisture from the hay infusion. We would have growth on the agar plates because there are nutrients on the agar plates but there are no longer nutrients in the Hay Infusion Culture.
The Image of Table 1 from the lab manual filled in for information from Transect 2's serial dilution results. Since the serial dilution was done in micro letters, the colonies on the plate were divided by 100 before being converted over to colonies/mL. This was done to remain in the same unit.
You can see more colonies on the plate without the antibiotic than with the antibiotic. This indicated that there was bacteria on the plates that were susceptible to the tetracycline anitbotic. Ttetracycline decreases the amount of bacteria but not fungi on the plates. However, no fungi was fund on the plates. There were also less colonies the more diluted plates. There was nothing found on the 10^-7, 10^-9, 10^-5 + tet, 10^-7 + tet, and 10^-9 + tet plates. At this part of the lab there is no indication how many species were unaffected by the tetracycline. By the looks of the colonies on the 10^-3 +tet plate (the only plate with tet that had colonies grow on it), it has about four different colonies on the plate.
Mechanism of Tetracycline Tetracycline has three ways of resistance, they are tetracycline efflux, ribosomal protection, and tetracycline modification.Tetracycline efflux is an efflux gene in gram-negative bacteria that represses the tetracycline. The ribosomal protection works the same way. Tetracycline modification is very rare, and is not fully understood by the clinical field (Speer, 1992). A wide variety of bacteria are sensitive to tetracycline. Examples include both gram positive and negative bacteria, but especially: chlamydiae, mycoplasmas, rickettsiae, and protozoan parasites (Chopra, 2001).
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The tetracycline killed a lot of the bacteria present, but not all. In the future, the dilution wold be minimized because it minimized so much that there was no growth on the 10^-7 and 10^-9 slides.
References
Chopra, I., & Roberts, M. (2001, June 6). Tetracycline Antibiotics: Mode of Action, Applications, Molecular Biology, and Epidemiology of Bacterial Resistance. Retrieved February 04, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC99026/
Speer, B. S., Shoemaker, N. B., & Salyers, A. A. (1992, October 5). Bacterial resistance to tetracycline: Mechanisms, transfer, and clinical significance. Retrieved February 04, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC358256/
... ALE
LAB 2 JAN 21, 2016
PURPOSE The purpose of the experiment is to identify microorganism growing on the surface, middle, and bottom of a Hay Infusion Culture, while considering the biotic and abiotic factors residing in each level of the culture, and to determine what those organisms might need to survive.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
- Hay Infusion Culture (*prepared previous week)
- Latex Gloves
- Microscope
- (6) Slides and slide covers
- Transfer pipettes
- Dichotomous Key (*aid in identifying microorganisms)
DATA AND OBSERVATIONS
They hay infusion did not smell like anything. There was some mol and what looked like branches on the top of the hay infusion. The center was clear, and has the ability to bee seen through. The bottom section of the hay infusion was a dark/dirty mustard yellow. It also looked like there were some articles at the bottom of the container.
Organisms might move closer or further away from the top of bottom of the container would be determined on how it received their nutrients. If a plant matter organism used photosynthesis to receive energy, then it would most likely exist towards the top of the surface to receive maximum exposure from the sun/light. A protists organism might revive its nutrients from the milk protein that settled at the bottom of the container, and therefore be found towards the bottom of the hay infusion container.
If the presence of photosynthetic microorganisms such as algae are present in the culture, then it is likely that algae will exist closest to its surface for maximum exposure to the sun. Also, if protists reside within the Hay Infusion Culture, then it is likely that they will be found near its most bottom layer where the milk protein has settled.
Organisms found in Hay Infusion:
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Diatoms meet all the needs of life as described on page 2 of the Freeman text in that it 1. is comprised of cells, or more specifically, it's unicellular 2. with cell walls 3. use chlorophyll to harvest energy from the sun (photosynthesis) 4. able to adapt to their environment (i.e. forming stalks to attach to water surface) 5. Can grow by forming larger colonies 6. has an oogamous sexual reproduction cycle). (Can be seen at top of the page)
If the Hay Infusion Culture had been allowed to grow for an additional two months, the microorganisms that are in the Hay Infusion may have been able to reproduce. Or there may not be anything growing because there si a lack of nutrients in the culture, and the microorganisms died. This would either lead to an increased competition for resources and a lab-friendly window into a microscopic survival of the fittest scenario, or after 2 months nothing will be there to observe.
For next lab:
....
ALE
LAB 1 JAN 14, 2016
PURPOSE
The purpose of this experiment is to observe and describe the topograhic, biotic, and abiotic characteristics of a 20 by 20 foot transect on American University's Main Campus by creating a Hay Infusion Culture, or lab-friendly ecosystem.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
- 1 Gallon Ziplock Bag
- Latex Gloves
- Flashlight (*transect observed after dark)
- Camera/camera phone
- Glass Jar (w/ 1L capacity) with lid
- 500ml of purified water
- 0.1 gram of dried milk (*sustenance for living organisms in hay infusion culture)
- Sharpie
- Painter's tape or labels
DATA AND OBSERVATIONS
TRANSSECT 2
Aerial Diagram of Transec which is located next to the amphitheater, running along the side of Hughes Hall
Photographs of transect:
Biotic components of transect: -leaves -dry soil: closer to the edge of the transect closest to the walking path, -wet soil: closer to the river multiple smaller dead trees scattered throughout the transect, scattered leaves through transect and in the river river mold on the rocks in the river multiple rocks in the river river water
Abiotic Factors of transect: -None present/directed towards transect.
CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Transect 2 contained a great deal of water, soil, moss, algae, and leaves. Since the transect was looked at in the mist of winter, there was a lot of the transect was dead. I believe that changing the temperature of the location of the transect, will affect the live organisms that were able to live in the winter conditions. .... ALE
