The Role And Functions Of Bacteria In The Community

In everyday life we run into millions of microbes. Some of the bacteria is capable of making humans sick. The study of microbes has become very important subject to help stop potential pandemics and ensure proper hygiene. Anthony van Leeuwenhoek was the first scientist who discovered bacteria. In my study of microbiology, I got to choose an unknown bacteria to identify. It is important to start off finding the family of the unknown bacteria and then eliminating one by one the species to know which bacteria it is. By knowing the family, a scientist can save themselves a lot of time by knowing which tests need to be performed for the elimination process. This might seem like a waste of time to one but being able to correctly identify bacteria

There are many types of bacteria that can be found in your bathroom. They might also be found on your toothbrush! I have been researching about what bacteria are lurking in my bathroom. I placed 6 petri dishes filled with agar in my bathroom. I left them there for 24 hours to collect bacteria samples.

Phytoplankton are microscopic photosynthesising organisms which live in water. In favourable environmental conditions they have a very high rate of reproduction. They are eaten by microscopic animals called zooplankton. In an investigation, samples of water were removed from a lake at intervals over a twelve-month period and the biomasses of these organisms were determined. The results are shown in the graph.

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.

The purpose of the following study is to determine where the two unknown bacteria acquired in Microbiology lab should be classified in regards to temperature, pH level, and osmoregularity. It is important to classify bacteria in order to identify them. Identification of bacteria is important because they are not only useful but potentially dangerous as well. The identification of bacteria can lead to breakthroughs in healthcare regarding treatment of old and new diseases alike. Identifying bacteria can also be used in many other areas from better crop production through microbial pesticides to biological warfare. Their uses are endless as are their abilities to evolve and adapt to changing environments. That is why it is so important

As the flowchart shows, a series of tests were conducted to identify the unknown bacterium #65. Microscopic observation of the gram stain indicated a gram-positive coccus bacterium. S. epidermidis was used as the gram-positive control while E. coli was used as the gram-negative control. This observation led to the elimination of all gram negative and rod-shaped genera: Enterobacter, Citrobacter, Klebsiella, Escherichia, Pseudomonas, Serratia, Alcaligenes, Neisseria, Proteus, Salmonella, Shigella, Erwinia, Veillonella, Flavobacterium, Bacillus, Arthrobacter, Lactobacillus, Listeria and Kurthia (2). By performing the catalase test, it was determined that the bacterium was catalase negative and it did not produce bubbles. M. luteus and E. faecalis were used as positive and negative controls, respectively.

PCR is the amplification of DNA by denaturing, annealing, and extension of a DNA template. Specific sequences can be amplified using single-stranded DNA that complements the target sequences known as primers. This process heats DNA until the strands separate, then primers bind to the target regions. DNA polymerase enzymes and single base nucleotides (dNTPs) are used to synthesize new strands of DNA to the target sequence. The end product will contain large quantities of the target sequence (Bean et al. 2015). The most notable in phylogenic studies is the 16S rRNA gene, because of it’s highly conserved primer-binding site and hyper variable regions that provide species-specific sequences within bacteria and archaea (Kolbert and Persin 1999). This gene is a component of the 30S small subunit of prokaryotic ribosome’s and serves as the primary site of protein synthesis. (Woese and Fox 1977). The 16S rRNA sequence can be amplified and matched to national databases provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) using software termed Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) to find regions of similarity between biological sequences for bacterial identification. Thus, providing a cost effective and timely method when compared to biochemical

Purpose of Bergy’s Manual: based on ribosomal RNA sequences, which presumably reflect phylogenetic (evolutionary) relationships. Used for the identification of prokaryotes. 2nd edition on classification of prokaryotes.

The 16S rRNA gene sequences amplified from cranberry bogs resolved into 49 bacterial phyla. The overall bacterial composition of the different samples was similar, particularly among the six most highly-represented groups (Fig. 1). Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Verrucomicrobia were the most dominant phyla (relative abundance > 5 %) in every sample, together accounting for about 78 % of the bacterial sequences in the soils examined. The Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi were also major constituents of each sample site. Cyanobacteria, Armatimonadetes, Planctomycetes, Chlamydia, FCPU426, Firmicutes, Nitrospirae, Chlorobi, and Spirochaetes were represented in all of the samples at lower frequencies, and seven other minor

There are several environmental concerns affecting the community of Lusby, Maryland, but of main concern is the cyanobacteria growing in the Chesapeake Bay. The blue-green algae called cyanobacteria is infesting the waterways in and around Lusby causing a hazard to the community. According to National Geographic (n.d.), the Chesapeake Bay was one of the first waterways recognized in the 1970s having overgrowth of cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria contains both an algae and a bacteria and when growth exceeds space and the algae begins to die, two issues occur: toxins are produced and released which are harmful to both humans and animals and hypoxia follows as oxygen is consumed in excessive creating a dead zone in the water for all other living

Prokaryotes are ubiquitous, successfully adapting to diverse environments as well as developing symbiotic relationships with host organisms (Lengeler, Drews, & Schlegel, 1999). Prokaryotes may have both autotrophic and heterotrophic characteristics. A cyanobacteria is photosynthetic, commonly called blue-green algae, and may produce toxins (Crayton, 1993). Bacteria are most commonly associated in the general

There are several environmental concerns affecting the community of Lusby, Maryland, but of main concern is the cyanobacteria growing in the Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake Bay and Patuxent River surrounded the peninsula town on Lusby and numerous lakes and creeks are embedded in the town as well, creating breeding ground for the blue-green algae, cyanobacteria and a hazard for the community. According to National Geographic, the Chesapeake Bay was one of the first waterways recognized in the 1970s that had overgrowth of cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria contains both an algae and a bacteria and when growth exceeds space and the algae begins to die, two issues occur: toxins are produced and released which are harmful to both humans and animals and hypoxia follows as oxygen is consumed in excessive creating a dead zone in the water for all other living organisms in the bay (“U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Health and Ecological Effects, Nutrient Pollution Policy and Data,” n.d.).

It’s important to understand what our body is capable of doing in terms of what type of environment we live in. Due to the climatic changes that are happening in our ecosystem, this affects our waters where we obtain our food resources from there and our physical activities in the water. With pollution continuing to build up in our waters, it increases the chances of illnesses and diseases to break out, and thus affecting the community’s health. If we are to further go into this research proposal, we can collect samples from polluted water and observe for any microbial problems that can affect the immune

Each mixed culture that was tested had one gram positive and one gram negative bacterial species. The possible species of bacteria that could have been isolated from the mixtures included the following: Bacillus subtilis, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterobacter aerogenes, Salmonella enterica, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The identities of the unknown species were determined through comparing the experimental data against data acquired from earlier experimentation.

Water pollution affects plants and organisms living in these bodies of water; and, in almost all cases the effect is damaging not only to individual species and populations, but also to the natural biological communities.