User:Caitlin G Denison/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

2-18-14 Lab 3

-I think it is possible that some archaea may have grown on the plates. Archaea are capable of living in very hostile environments, so it makes sense that they would be able to survive on the plates. Of course, the plates are not designed to match a hostile environment a species of archaea is adapted for, so if there are archaea there may not be many and they may not have a very high fitness.

-The smell of the culture may change from week to week due to the continued decomposition of the plant matter within it, and the continued growth of new and different organisms.

Table one: 100-fold Serial Dilution Results Dilution (plate label) Agar Colonies counted Conversion factor Colonies/ml 10^-3 Nutrient Lawn X10^3 Too many to count 10^-5 Nutrient 180 X10^5 18,000,000 10^-7 Nutrient 68 X10^7 680,000,000 10^-9 Nutrient 18 X10^9 180,000,000,000 10^-3 Nutrient+tet 53 X10^3 53,000 10^-5 Nutrient+tet 4 X10^5 400,000 10^-7 Nutrient+tet 0 X10^7 0

-The differences between the colonies on the non-tet and tet plates are; the tet colonies tended to be larger than the non-tet colonies, most of the colonies on the tet plates were orange, while the colonies on tet non-tet plates came in a variety of colors (including orange).

- The lack of color variety indicates that only a select few types of bacteria were able to grow on the tet plates. The larger size of the tet colonies indicates that the organisms that were able to grow on the tet plates were better suited for growth on the tet plates than on the non-tet plates.

-The tetracycline limited the number of bacteria. Note that the maximum number of colonies on non-tet plates was 180, whereas the maximum number of colonies on the tet plates was 53. There were no fungi found on either plate.

-Based on our observation of the color and shape of the colonies, it was determined that 2 species of bacteria were unaffected by the tetracycline

-Tetracycline is an antibiotic that works by inhibiting protein synthesis in bacteria. It inhibits the binding of t-RNA to the ribosome. Both gram-positive and gram negative bacteria are susceptible to this antibiotic. Some specific types include; chlamydiae, mycoplasmas, rickettsiae, and protozoa. (Chorpa, Roberts, 2001)

Table 2: Bacterial Colonies Observed Colony Label Tet +/-Colony Morphology # of colonies and # of bacteris per ml Cell Description Gram stain +/- 10^-9 - Pink, circular 2, 200000000 Small, non-motile, pill shaped, often found in pairs + 10^-7 - Yellow, circular 6, 60000000 Small, irregular round-ish shape, non-motile + 10^-3 + Orange, circular 8, 8000 Pill shaped, non-motile -

References Roberts, M. R., & Chorpra, I. C. (2001). Tetracycline antibiotics: Mode of action, applications, molecular biology, and epidemiology of bacterial resistance. Microbiology and molecular biology reviews, 65(2), Retrieved from http://mmbr.asm.org/content/65/2/232.full

File:Bacteria sketch

CD

2-6-14 Lab 2 Identifying algae and protists

Description of hay infusion culture:

The culture has a thick, light brown film on the top. On top of the film lie some black mold spots. There is lots of darkly colored, slimy debris at the bottom of the jar. The culture is foul smelling; it smells a little like mold.

-Organisms might differ depending on whether they are near to plant matter or not, because some organisms have evolved to live in areas with lots of plant matter. These organisms may use plants for shelter or food. Other organisms have evolved to live away from plant matter; perhaps they need to live at the surface to get more sunlight.

-Organisms observed in culture:

Area 1: Surface:

1. Peranema, mobile, protist, not photosynthesizing, 50um 2. Euglena, mobile, protist, can photosynthesize, 40um 3. Actinoshpaerium, mobile, protist, not photosynthesizing, 75um

Area 2: Middle of jar

1. Peranema, mobile, protist, not photosynthesizing, 50um 2. Colpidium, mobile, protist, not photosynthesizing, 60um 3. Actinoshpaerium, mobile, protist, not photosynthesizing 75um

Note: We were unable to find 6 different species in our sample. Many of the organisms that were living at the surface, were the same species as the ones living at the surface.

How Paranema meets all the needs of life:

1. Energy-Paranema is heterotrophic and therefore must consume other living things to survive. Paranema capture prey such as bacteria to provide energy.

2. Cells- Paranema is made of a single cell.

3. Information-Paranema is able to take in information from the environment and adapt to it. One example of paranemas’ ability to process information is its ability to sense and respond to changes in light.

4. Replication-Paranema is able to reproduce through binary fission.

5. Evolution- like all living creature, paranema is subject to the pressures of natural selection. This pressure and the ability to mutate, allow the organism to evolve.

-If the hay infusion culture were to be observed in another month, I suspect there would be less visible plant matter, because the leaves etc., would have begun to decompose. I also suspect that if the nutrients in the jar have not started to run out, there would be more mold on the top of the culture, and there would be more protists. If the nutrients in the jar have started to run low at this point, then I suspect there would be fewer protists and only the strongest, healthiest protists would still be living.

-The selective pressures that affected our sample were: temperature constraints, limited nutrients, predation by other organisms, and limited living space. The organisms had to compete to gain access to these resources, and the ones that were best able to adapt to their environment survived.

Sketch of organisms:File:Organisms 141561 Sketch of serial Dilution:File:Dilution62626627

Great job, the pictures didn't upload, try again. 2/18/14 GHH

1-28-14 Lab 1 Lab 1 Diversity of Life at AU

Characteristics of Transect:

The transect is located on the south side of campus, near Beegly Building. The area consists of six wooden planting boxes, with dirt separating the boxes and a chicken wire fence surrounding the plot of land. The ground is flat and the soil is dark, with many bits of mulch and leaves mixed in.

Abiotic features:

1. Planting boxes 2. Dirt 3. mulch 4. rocks 5. chicken wire

Biotic features:

1. leafy, green plant 2. grey colored bush 3. leaves 4. weeds 5. small, green bush-like weeds CDFile:Sketch