Bubbles!

Today in lab we started the day looking at our results from last Thursday. Then Dr. Pathakamuri showed us another way to test for the presence of oxygen. This used hydrogen peroxide poured on our samples. The oxygen will bubble much like it does on human skin.

For the rest of lab we performed many different experiments. These included MR-VP (Methyl Red & Voges-Proskauer) to see if our unknown bacteria has the ability to ferment glucose. Each part of the experiment (MR and VP) have different reagents that need to be added after incubation. Another experiment was the Gelatin Hydrolysis where we stabbed a gelatin deep with an inoculating needle. The third experiment was the Triple Sugar Iron Agar test where we needed to stab the TSI tube with the needle 3/4 through the butt and make a zigzag pattern up the rest of the slant. The fourth test was the Litmus Milk Reaction where we inoculated a tube of litmus milk (that was a cool purple color) with our unknown. The final test was the Fermentation of Carbohydrates where we inoculated three test tubes, one containing a sucrose, glucose and lactose medium.