Cyanobacteria
The first Cyanobacteria I observed was Oscillatoria
At 400x Magnification this cyanobacteria seems to be unicellular and have some horizontal striations toward the bottom of this photograph.
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Cyanobacteria |
| Class: | Cyanophyceae |
| Order: | Nostocales |
| Family: | Oscillatoriaceae |
| Genus: | Oscillatoria |
The next cyanobacteria observed was Gloeocaspa
At 400x Magnification Gloeocapsa still seem to be incredibly small, though we only see four cells per grouping it should be noted that each grouping actually contains eight cells. These cells are surrounded by a protective gelatinous sheath.
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Cyanobacteria |
| Class: | Cyanophyceae |
| Order: | Chroococcales |
| Family: | Microcystaceae |
| Genus: | Gloeocapsa |
Taken at 400x Magnification one single anabaena cell spanned nearly the entire field of view this cyanobacteria is the second largest that I was able to observe in lab out of the four species. Though anabaena is thin it is very long and when taking a closer look at the high resolution photograph provided, many cells can be observed per strand of anabaena. An interesting fact, anabaena is able to fix nitrogen and therefore can exist symbiotically with aquatic plants. Also as a bonus to the symbiosis anabaena can secrete a neurotoxin that protect it's host from grazing.
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Cyanobacteria |
| Order: | Nostocales |
| Family: | Nostocaceae |
| Genus: | Anabaena |
At 400x Magnification we can see that gloeotrichia is very large, the largest out of the four that I was able to observe in lab. When zooming in to this high resolution photograph, we can see the large round head at one end and a very long body. upon closer examination we can see that the body of this cyanobacteria is sectioned like anabaena.
| Kingdom: | Bacteria |
| Subkingdom: | Eubacteria |
| Phylum: | Cyanobacteria |
| Class: | Cyanophyceae |
| Order: | Nostocales |
| Family: Genus: | Gloeotrichiaceae Gloeotrichia |
Bacteria Gross Out Time
The second objective of this lab period was to think of things that had bacteria. We wanted to see if the bacteria we gathered were able to grow at room temperature as well as body temperature. Our samples were placed on a Petri dish that contained Tryptic Soy Agar (TSA) which is a growth medium (food) that can feed and grow a wide range of bacteria.
The four objects I chose to focus on were: The under rim of my glasses (A1 and B1), A Quarter that I had in my pocket (A2 and B2), The microscope stage on my microscope which was microscope #5 (A3 and B3), and lastly the D20 (20 sided die) which is fashionably worn by my classmate Yasmin as jewelry.
After two days incubation time I was able to yield results on my body temperature plate.
As we can see there is no bacteria growth on my room temperature plate, and the swabs that did yield results were from my eyeglasses and Yasmin's D20. It should be noted that I chose to swab the number 20 on her die for the highest success possible.
I was not at all surprised by the results of my eyeglasses, I know that lots of sweat and skin cells get trapped under the rim and when I was younger I have even had mold grow on my glasses. I was however expecting to see results on my quarter just based on the fact that it looked dirty and is passed around a lot through human exchange. We can also see that the microscope stand one very small dot of bacteria growth, however, this may be a source of error because no where else on that quadrant showed any signs of growth.
After one week of incubation, bacteria growth could be observed on the room temperature plate as well (plate B).
It is obvious that each bacteria colony continued to grow as the dots got bigger from day two to day seven. On the body temperature plate we can see the appearance of two yellow-orange dots both in quadrants A1 and A4. Plate B began to show some growth in quadrants B1 and B4.
Closing thoughts
Looking at Cyanobacteria was pretty neat, these were the first true oxygen producers on our planet, leading to our eventual existence. Doing these bacteria plates really just confirmed what I already knew, bacteria is everywhere. We don't need to fear the ones that we encounter everyday because it seems like most of them are harmless, plus these ones were given a constant food supply thanks the the TSA so they were allowed to grow without interruption.
Sources: Used to get classification data
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaena
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloeocapsa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloeotrichia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillatoria
As we can see there is no bacteria growth on my room temperature plate, and the swabs that did yield results were from my eyeglasses and Yasmin's D20. It should be noted that I chose to swab the number 20 on her die for the highest success possible.
I was not at all surprised by the results of my eyeglasses, I know that lots of sweat and skin cells get trapped under the rim and when I was younger I have even had mold grow on my glasses. I was however expecting to see results on my quarter just based on the fact that it looked dirty and is passed around a lot through human exchange. We can also see that the microscope stand one very small dot of bacteria growth, however, this may be a source of error because no where else on that quadrant showed any signs of growth.
After one week of incubation, bacteria growth could be observed on the room temperature plate as well (plate B).
It is obvious that each bacteria colony continued to grow as the dots got bigger from day two to day seven. On the body temperature plate we can see the appearance of two yellow-orange dots both in quadrants A1 and A4. Plate B began to show some growth in quadrants B1 and B4.
Closing thoughts
Looking at Cyanobacteria was pretty neat, these were the first true oxygen producers on our planet, leading to our eventual existence. Doing these bacteria plates really just confirmed what I already knew, bacteria is everywhere. We don't need to fear the ones that we encounter everyday because it seems like most of them are harmless, plus these ones were given a constant food supply thanks the the TSA so they were allowed to grow without interruption.
Sources: Used to get classification data
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaena
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloeocapsa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloeotrichia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillatoria
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