Week 2 of Project

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I went in the lab this week with high hopes for my bacteria friends. I took out my streak plate from incubator and this is what I found -

My first thought was AHHHHH contamination! So I quickly remade a streak plate with my unknown #27 and proceeded to perform a gram stain with my initial bacteria culture results. After the gram staining I was able to identify whether my bacteria was + or - and its morphology. So far unknown #27 is gram + and bacilli. Take a look -

This is my 2nd trial streak plate- I made sure that the results were conclusive, meaning that after gram staining this bacteria culture I should get the same results. I did.

Since my results produced a gram + bacilli, the next step was to perform an endospore test. In this test you use malachite green to penetrate bacteria cells. After staining you look under a microscope to see if there was a discoloration of cell walls. If its greenish in color you have spores. Unknown #27 did produce spores. The next step is to perform a glucose test...  I will post my results soon.

Peace,
Jenni

Week 1 of Project

Happy Thursday. Today was my first day in lab. Joshua had me watch vidoes of lab safety and protocols all which I found very useful since it has been a while since I have been in a lab. NOTE: PHENOL IS DANGEROUS! When I was finished watching the videos Joshua asked me to search how to perform a bacteria "streak" and what the difference was between that and a  bacteria "lawn". Apparently a streak technique is used to isolate a bacteria colony for further testing and a lawn technique is used to test bacteria sensitivities to antibiotics, garlic, and detergents. So after my 5 minute research I performed this procedure and sent my unknown #27 into incubation. We will see if my technique produces results on Monday:)

Day 1-

Interview for Internship 10.16.13

My interview was scheduled for 1:30p on Wed 10/16/13 and man was I nervous. I arrived there 10 min early and couldn't stop wondering about what questions I was going to be asked. Luckily Joshua is really easy to talk to so my interview went well and I left wanting to know more about Biological Research.

I figured since I am pursuing a degree in eviormental engineering why not research biofuels and the recent advancements in technology. Fortunantely reasearch still continues but it is going to take a lot of money and brain power to be able to manufacture biomass efficiently on a comercial scale. Right now corn grain is the primary source of  U.S. ethanol production simply because it is easier to breakdown than woodchips and grasses. Much of todays research is focused on accelerating the deconstruction of cellulosic biomass into sugars that can be converted into biofeuls. I have included the link to this page and there is also a helpful diagram that depicts plant matter conversion to cellulosic ethanol. BIOFUEL


Peace,
Jenni