User:Makuo C. Aneke/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

2/19/2014

In this lab, we referred back to our transect to identify different types of plants living there. The major group that our plants were a part of were angiosperms.

Description of Plants (Table 1):

Fungi sporangia are little, black, circular structures that some fungi grow upward and outward from and they're important because these sporangia are the site of reproduction.

Fungi Observation:

This fungus appears to be very fuzzy and its color gets darker towards the center. Looking closely, there seems to be a colony of bacteria under it as well. The fungus is relatively large and it seems to be raised in the center. I think this fungus belongs in the Ascomycota group because, by observation, it falls under the category of a powdery mildew or mold. I believe that it is a fungus in the first place because it has many characteristics of fungi including a fuzzy, raised-bump structure with whitish hyphae filaments growing around it, lack of chloroplasts (meaning no photosynthesis), and it seems to be free-living.

--Makuo C. Aneke 19:26, 19 February 2014 (EST)MA

2/19/2014

In this lab, we closely observed our bacteria on agar petri dishes. As for the hay infusion culture, the volume of the water decreased but the color and odor basically remained the same. As mentioned in the last lab, over time the population of bacteria in the culture will increase to carrying capacity while the volume of water decreases due to evaporation. Therefore, hay infusion becomes more dense, the smell becomes stronger, and competition between organisms increases.

Agar plates: ~10^-3... ~10^-5... ~10^-7... ~10^-9... ~10^-3(tet)... ~10^-5(tet)... ~10^-7(tet)...

100-fold Serial Dilution Results:

There is not much of a difference in colony types between the plates with vs. without the antibiotic. The colors and sizes are generally the same. This indicates that a mutation may have occurred in some colonies of bacteria that allowed them to be resistant to tetracycline. On the plates with the tetracycline, there's a drastic decrease in the number of colonies compared to the plates without tetracycline. Also, circles of fungi tended to grow on the plates with the antibiotic and not on the plates without it. Only about 7 species of bacteria were unaffected by tetracycline.

Tetracycline works by attaching itself to the ribosomal acceptor (A) site, therefore preventing aminoacyl-tRNA to bind to it. Both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria can be susceptible to tetracycline (Collard).

The three petri dishes we used to observe were 10^-3 with tetracycline, and 10^-5 & 10^-7 without tetracycline.

Results:

Collard, Jean-Marc. "Tetracycline Resistance." Tetracycline Resistance. Service of Biosafety & Biotechnology, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. http://www.antibioresistance.be/tetracycline/menu_tet.html

--Makuo C. Aneke 18:44, 19 February 2014 (EST)MA

2/19/2014

Lab 2

In this lab, we observed the different types of bacteria that grew in our hay infusion cultures. The our culture looked like a swamp and had a greenish-brown color. The odor was very unpleasant, similar to rotting food. There was a thin layer of a brown substance on the surface of the culture

We then took samples of organisms from two different niches, including one with plant matter. Organisms may differ near vs. away from the plant matter because bacteria living near the plant matter would most likely depend on the nutrients that it provides. We obtained six total samples (three from the top and three bottom of the culture) to observe.

Organisms from Hay Infusion:

Top of the Culture Organism 1: -Relatively big in size, motile with cilia, colorless -Has elongated shape -Doesn't appear to photosynthesize -Size is about 50 micrometers This organisms characteristics are consistent with that of Paramecium Bursaria

Organism 2: -Has a large head with cilia which was attached to a flagella-like body, motile -Colorless -Flower-like shape -Size is 25 micrometers This organisms characteristics are consistent with that of Vorticella

Organism 3: -Small, immobile, and green in color (photosynthesis) -Circular and single-celled with two flagella -Size is about 10 micrometers This organisms characteristics are consistent with that of Chlamydomonas

Bottom of the Culture Organism 1: -Small, motile and colorless -Bean shaped -Uses cilia -Size is about 45 micrometers This organism's characteristics are most similar to that of Colpidium

Organism 2: -Relatively bigger in size, motile with cilia (moves in circles) -Has a yellowish green tint -Rounder in shape -Size is about 75 micrometers This organisms characteristics are consistent with that of Pandorina

Organism 3: -Big, motile with cilia & colorless -Has an elongated shape -Size is about 100 micrometers This organisms characteristics are similar to that of Difflugia

I think one organism that meets all the needs of life is Colpidium because it uses energy to move with it's cilia and it was even observed reproducing under the microscope through binary fission. Also, Colpidium is part of the protozoa group which means it's eukaryotic and has DNA. While having DNA, it also has the ability to evolve over time, especially through mutation.

If the hay infusion had been observed for another two months, I would expect the number of bacteria to increase, remain constant, then decrease over time. Bacteria produce rapidly, so of course over time, the population would increase in number. At one point, however, the hay infusion will reach its carrying capacity and the population number would remain steady. The population would then decrease over time as the water from the hay infusion culture evaporates.

Some selective pressures that may have affected the composition of samples is the availability of oxygen or carbon dioxide and food. Also, the hay infusion, in comparison to the original transect, is much smaller and that would influence the range of species in the culture.

Serial Dilution Procedure (Figure 1):

--Makuo C. Aneke 14:52, 19 February 2014 (EST)MA

January 30, 2014

Lab 1

Volvox Number of Cells: about 10 per colony (10x magnification) Colony Size: 45 nanometers Functional Specialization: none Reproductive Specialization: oogamy

Gonium Number of Cells: about 8 per colony (40x magnification) Colony Size: 80 nanometers Functional Specialization: contains chloroplasts Reproductive Specialization: oogamy

Chlamydomonas Number of Cells: about 10 per colony (40x magnification) Colony Size: 40 nanometers Functional Specialization: contains chloroplasts Reproductive Specialization: oogamy

--Makuo C. Aneke 13:40, 30 January 2014 (EST)Makuo Aneke

You need to ensure that you have answers or information relevant to ALL items in red in the lab handout! 2/18/14 GHH