User:Sydney Anne Fry/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU
2.3.2016 Identifying Algae and Protists from Hay Culture Infusion
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to be able to use a dichotomous key to identify organisms in the hay infusion culture that was made from last week and understanding the defining characteristics of protists and algae. Through microscopes, the dichotomous key will be used to identify the organisms through noticing their size, color, shape, mobility, etc. If we observe a wet mount slide under a microscope then an abundance of protists will be seen.
Materials and Methods: Make a wet mount of known organisms and observe under the microscope at 4x, 10x, and maybe 40x whether the organism is immobile or not. Use a dichotomous key to determine the identity of the organisms found. Record description and use dichotomous key to identify them.
Data and Observations:
Hay Infusion Description: The hay culture after one week seems to have about an inch of water evaporated. Differing from last week, the film on the top, which seems to be a mold, is a lot thicker. It has turned into a opaque white/grey color. There were no green shoots on the top of the culture. All the sediment that was floating around in the culture from last week has fell tot he bottom and is a layer of brown about half a centimeter thick. The leaves in the culture are more broken down and wilted. The smell is stronger than last week but still smells like rotting food and dirt.
Figure 1. Picture of hay infusion culture after two weeks for transect two.
Niche Sample: Our lab group took culture samples from the top, middle and bottom of the culture. The slides from the top and middle of the culture did not indicate any protists. But when looking at the bottom culture slide; our group found an abundance of protists.
Under the microscope, the protists were moving so quickly it was hard to identify them under 40x magnification. Three different protists were identified; all were motile though they varied in speed. None were green thus we concluded none of the protists found were photosynthesizing. The first protist we found was chlamydomonas, it was about 5 micrometers in length and roundish. The next protist we identified was a paramecium. There were many different sizes of paramecium in our slide indicating the existence of numerous species of paramecium, but the one that was measured was only 2.5 micrometers. It was long and oval shaped and moved very quickly. The last protist was a chilomonas, about 75 micrometers in length. These reminded me of little space ships and moved using two flagella on the back on the organism; the front was pointed.
Figure 2. Photo of multiple different protists at 10x magnification
Figure 3. Sketches of protists found in hay infusion culture.
Figure 4. Photo of protists at 10x magnification.
Figure 5. Photo of paramecium at 10x magnification
Figure 6. Microscope photo of chlamydomonas at 40x magnification.
Conclusions and Future Directions:
The chilomonas meets all the needs of life because…. 1.it has energy, it is moving so energy is required for this 2.it is an organism made of cells 3.the nucleus is visible inside of this protist so it is deduced that it has information 4.because it is a prokaryotes, it reproduces through asexual reproduction 5.prokaryotes are ancient organisms so the fact that the chilomonas is still around means that it is constantly evolving.
If the Hay Infusion culture grew for another two months I would expect a lot more mold to reproduce. But the fact that there is limited plant matter and space in the culture, I would predict that much of the organic matter would decompose because of the organisms present in the culture. I question that since the culture is small will there ever come a time where organisms such as protist have no more room to reproduce and grow and eventually everything will become dead matter?
This experiment produced a various amount of species of protists and allowed me to get to see what living protists looked like underneath a microscope. The dichotomous seemed to be simple to use but once the protists were under the microscope and moving quickly I found it a lot more difficult to identify them. This experiment was more about gaining a better understanding on protists and archaea therefore, I cannot necessarily reject or accept a hypothesis other than saying I got a better understanding of the life living inside of the hay culture.
SAF
1/26/2016 Transect Description
Abiotic components of transect: 1. rocks 2. soil 3. water 4. brick 5. irrigation system
Biotic components of transect: 1. trees 2. ferns 3. worms 4. grass 5. squirrel
Description of transect 2: Transect 2 was located adjacent to the amphitheater on American's campus. The transect's main component was a small creek running through the middle of it. Water was running through the stream with sediment, rocks, and pebbles lining the bottom; a few large branches laid inside the creek. There were many large boulders throughout the transect and only a handful of trees. On the right side of the transect was a lot of ivy and a large amount of bushes line the back wall of the transect. At the front of the transect was a plastic irrigation system plate and a walkway of rocks to the creek. The soil throughout the transect was rather dry, rocky and filled with stones. There was a brick that was thrown in the creek.
SAF
