Science teacher, yes, all of my equipement was sterile. All your help would be much appreciated. ( This bacteria that is dissolving the agar is very oderous as well. I have sealed it in a ziplock bag.)
2006-10-25 09:19:49 · 4 answers · asked by sallydog 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
I did a swab on a kitchen sink. Everything was sterile and the agar (knox geletin and beef broth) was firm. The bacteria has started to dissolve some of the agar. Just wondering what type of bacteria this could be?
2006-10-25 09:39:07 · update #1
LOTS of bacteria can dissolve gelatin. That's the key here. Back in "the day" they tried using gelatin as the hardening agent in petri dishes, but the fact that many bacteria have the ability to break down gelatin caused problems. That's why we use agar now instead of gelatin.
You can look in bergy's manual of determinitive bacteriology for an idea of just how many bacteria can break down gelatin.
Sorry I'm not of more help, but growth on Beef extract + gelatin isn't selective enough to give us a start on identifying it.
2006-10-26 01:32:50 · answer #1 · answered by John V 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if there's something growing on your agar, then something wasn't sterile. Your agar might not have been adequately prepared (i.e., sterile). The opportunity for advantitious organisms is pratically countless.
You need to know what kind of agar you were using. And, if you were using agar, that rather implies that you were trying to grow something on it.... What is the problem, then?
Have you had it sealed in a ziploc bag the whole time? Then it is possible that your aerobic bacteria died and the growth was replaced by anaerobic organisms.
You can determine what type of organisms are growing, based upon the type of agar used. Any given agar only supports the growth of certain types of organisms.
You can even further identify the organism by observing the colony morphology and then putting it under a microscope and observing the bacterial shape.
Any decent microbiology book, and especially a lab book, will have a step-by-step method for baterial ID. I suggest pulling out your college text and checking there.
2006-10-25 09:32:44 · answer #2 · answered by Elizabeth S 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just look things up on wikipedia! Either that, or go to the library/book shop and get a book of some sort. There are plenty of textbooks you could read which would let you know all about them :)
2016-05-22 13:30:48 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Type of bacteria WHAT could be?
2006-10-25 09:27:45 · answer #4 · answered by Funchy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋