Microorganisms: Staphylococcus Epidermidis Essay example

The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the effects of various household products may have on bacterial growth. The bacteria that was chosen as a test subject is Micrococcus luteus, which is generally considered a harmless bacterium unless the host has a weakened immune system. Among the household products that a set of groups will test are common cleaning and disinfecting products such as rubbing alcohol, Betadine, Germ-X, Neosporin, liquid hand soap, and Lysol cleaner. In the experiment, the bacterium, Micrococcus luteus, is to be swabbed and grown in a Petri dish divided into four sections with agar in each. After that, a small circle of thin paper is soaked in the four household items. Then, a piece of parafilm

Disinfection is used when a piece of equipment may have been contamination with a pathogenic micro-organism from mucous membranes or bodily fluids. Disinfection reduces the amount of micro-organisms but it will not destroy all bacteria or viruses. There are two methods of disinfection Heat and chemical disinfectants. Auto-claves are used in the hospital for items e.g. bed pans, endoscopes and devices used on a

In the S. cerevisiae specimen, moderate growth was expected and observed based on the knowledge that most microbes desire this type of environment for growth. The same was expected although a larger amount of growth was observed for the S. epidermidis specimens in the 1% NaCl solution than expected. The 1% NaCl solution provided the best environment for the growth of both microbes. Minimal growth of S. cerevisiae and moderate growth of S. epidermidis was observed from the 7% NaCl solutions. The S. epidermidis is used to a slightly salty environment on the surface of skin which may account for the higher growth over S. cerevisiae in this environment. Lastly, no growth was noted in either specimen of 15% NaCl. This type of environment does not support the growth of most microbes due to the increase in salt content and the hypertonic environment it creates.

The conditions needed for the growth of micro-organisms are: Micro - organisms need food to survive. They like high protein food to survive, eg. Poultry & fish. Most micro - organisms need warmth & grow best at 20-40c. They need moisture to multiply. They need air to multiply, though some can without. A single Micro-organism becomes two every twenty minutes.

Often scientists work with bacteria that do not come in a labeled test tube— for example, bacterial samples taken from infected human tissue or from the soil—and the scientist must then identify the unknown microorganism in order to understand what behavior to expect from the organism, for example, a certain type of infection or antibiotic resistance. However, because of the relatively few forms of bacteria compared to animals and because of the lack of bacterial fossil records due to their asexually reproductive nature, the taxonomy used to classify animals cannot be applied to bacteria (Brown 275). In order to classify unknown bacteria, a variety of physiological and metabolic tests are available to narrow a sample down from the fathomless number of possibilities into a more manageable range. Once these tests have been performed, the researcher can consult Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, a systematically arranged and continually updated collection of all known bacteria based on their structure, metabolism, and other attributes.

Microorganisms need energy and that is generated through these metabolic activities (Jurtshuk, 1996). Through this experiment, it is shows that all the bacteria experienced different metabolic activities in different mediums.

There are tiny creatures called extremophiles that live here. Inside the creature's cell membrane, they have specially adapted structures. These structures pump out acidic substances allowing these microorganisms to thrive.

Abstract: The purpose for this experiment is to see how much colonies will grow on the section four as it will be counted as growing bacteria on a 37C location. We as a individual were counted as our control with our unwashed hand and treatment once we did the steps of washing our hands. The handwashing procedure is a procedure for nurses using hand soap to kill bacteria then you had before in your hands. We followed the steps by first taking any jewelry off and having our hands and forearm clear from any clothing. Second, we covered our hands with soap and then rub the soap from palm to palm twice. Afterwards, we did the procedure but for the back of your hands and do the same steps. Once we had our treatment ready, we left it in a location

Staphylococcus aureus sometimes known as the “superbug” is a bacteria that causes very nasty infections in people. There was no real cure to it so people discovered antibiotics to fight this infection. In 1941, the antibiotic, Penicillin was given to its first patient. The next year resistance to the drug was discovered. The staph infection was undergoing natural mutation and developing resistance to the penicillin so scientists decided to continue to search for different antibiotics. In 1956, Vancomycin was introduced and for quite a few years it held its own against the staph infections but finally in 1992 the superbug developed partial resistance to this antibiotic as well. It wasn't until 2002 when the infection had full resistance to Vancomycin.

Life History and Characteristics: Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium that is usually found in the nasal passages and on the skin of 15 to 40% of healthy humans, but can also survive in a wide variety of locations in the body. This bacterium is spread from person to person or to fomite by direct contact. Colonies of S. aureus appear in pairs, chains, or clusters. S. aureus is not an organism that is contained to one region of the world and is a universal health concern, specifically in the food handling industries.

Thermophiles are a type of microorganism which belongs to extremophiles. These types of micro-organisms are adapted to survive and live under extreme high temperatures range from 41 to 122 degree Celsius and are split into 3 sub-levels: simply thermophile, extreme thermophiles, and hyperthermophiles which are in ascending order of temperature. They are normally found in the space that has geological activities which produce habitats with high temperatures like hot spring and volcanic vents. Thermophiles have developed many adaptive strategies to help it to survive under extreme hot environments. Two basic strategies for them to survive are extrinsic stabilization (using certain small molecules) and intrinsic stabilization (using self-contained enzymes). These two strategies help them to avoid the thermal denaturation of their enzymes which are essential for surviving. Their energy supply is typically coming from organic compounds that are provided by geological activities. They ferment these organic compounds and turn them into chemical energy.

Obligate anaerobe: cannot live in presence of oxygen-oxygen kills it. Can use fermentation or anaerobic respiration. Some can make endospores.

Pathogens on the surface are eliminated physically by disinfectants. The mode of operation comes in the form of chemicals, diluted or undiluted for cleaning and by heating; we have noticed this process used in the milk preservation through pasteurisation whereby milk is heated at a very high temperature to kill pathogens. The application of disinfectants varies widely in use for the different settings. For healthcare cleaning to control and keep out pathogens, ethanol is the number one choice used to disinfect and sanitise floors, operation surfaces and surfaces touched the most by people like doors and door closing aids. The liquid based disinfectant normally gets rid of bacteria if it is in the right dilutions or measurements. There are iodine and chlorine based disinfectants both targeting pathogens. The latter is generally used in water treatment and food hygiene and the former widely used for making surgical instruments to render them free from pathogens, thus sterilisation. Antimicrobial

The purpose of the two experiments was to determine the fundamental effects that temperature has on the growth and survival of bacteria. During the first experiment five different bacterial broth cultures of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus stearothermophilus were individually incubated at temperatures of 5, 25, 37, 45 and 55°C for one week in an aim to distinguish the effect temperature has on growth and survival of the five different species. After one week they were observed for distinguishable changes by the turbidity showing an indication of bacterial growth, or the clarity an indication of no survival.

Microorganisms may be controlled in different ways as they enter food processing in different routes. The effective control of pathogenic and