BISC209/S13: Assignment 209 Lab8
Lab 8: Isolate Table showing isolate structures and functional capacity and Figures with evidence of isolate co-operation and competitive behavior
Graded Assignment:
Use the isolate tests data Google doc for your sample site to construct a concise Table for your final paper (your isolates and your teammates' isolates from the same sampling site) and write a complete results narrative. You should include in the table: The isolate ID you used all semester, Gram stain, description of the colony morphology, description of the individual bacteria's structural characteristics including shape & arrangement (cocci, rods, with descriptors ie., large, small, bullet shaped, in chains, etc.), evidence of spores (either endospore stain positive or visualization of empty areas in vegetative cells on Gram stain), motility, etc. Include test results that you will use as evidence for metabolic diversity or community behavior, ie. nitrogen cycling capabilities, fermentation of mannitol, etc. Make separate figures from photographs of the interactions assays for your soil sample and another from a photo of a positive antibiotic production assay (if your soil sample showed such a positive) and analyze those data in your narrative. Complete a google doc with the data for your site: Design a table to use in your paper and post it in the folder for your soil sampling site so your classmates can access and use this information for the other bacterial members of each soil community. Leave space in the table to add the scientific name of your isolate once the identification is back from GeneWiz.
The results analysis narrative for the table of tests performed on the isolates might start out, "In order to show structural and metabolic diversity as well as the potential for community behavior (co-operation and/or competition) among members of a soil community (the goal), nitrogen cycling bacteria & spore-forming bacteria were enriched and selected using media and protocols described in Materials and Methods. Once in pure culture a few soil community members of these groups and other interesting bacteria isolated on non-selective media were visualized using staining techniques for cell wall structure in a Gram stain, production of endospores with Shaeffer-Fulton endospore stain, the presence of capsules with a negative nigrosin stain, and flagella with a flagella stain. Additionally motility testing was performed on each isolate using soft agar deeps (the tools). Evidence for a role in the nitrogen cycle was assessed by________. (continue to describe any other testing you include in your table)......Table 1 shows/supports/indicates _________ (analysis of results)."
Design separate figures and result analyses for examples of isolate competition and co-operation using the antibiotic (if any of your site teammates indicated the presence of an antibiotic producer) and interactions assays. A good figure will use an annotated photograph of those plates, work with ALL of your sampling sites' interaction assays on this results section but you will want to select the best image for the figure and limit yourself to 1-3 examples of both co-operation and competition. An annotated photo of any positive antibiotic producers from your sampling site will make your analysis more useful for a reader that was not in our lab. If your site had no positive antibiotic producers, you can include this test, its negative results, and analysis in your isolate table without a photo.
