I started my internship on Monday, February 13, 2017. In my first week, I was introduced to the basics. For example, I watched safety videos, learned how to clock in/out, received my lab notebook, began working in the lab and identified an unknown bacteria. In order to identify my unknown, I used a plastic loop to streak it onto a TSA plate (top image). Once I was done with that, I left it in a Biohazard fridge for 24 hours. The next day, colonies (the small circles) of bacteria were successfully formed (2nd image). In order to identify my bacteria, I used these colonies to perform gram staining and a catalase test. When working on gram staining, the chemicals used were crystal violet, iodine, alcohol decolorizer and safranin. The purpose of the gram staining was to determine if it were gram+ or gram- (if it were purple, it would be gram+; if it were pink, it would be gram-). Some portion of my bacteria had both pink and purple present, but, since the majority of it was purple, I concluded that it was gram+ (3rd image). Not only did I have to find if it was gram+ or gram-, but I had to figure out if it were coccus (circle) or bacillus (rod) shaped. After closely examining the bacteria, I determined that it was coccus (bottom image). After that, I did a catalase test, which involved using a drop of hydrogen peroxide. Basically, after adding the drop, if it bubbled, I had to follow other tests to ID my bacteria, but, luckily, it did not bubble so I identified it as Enterococcus faecalis. All in all, my first week was a new experience and I cannot wait to see what this semester holds!
No comments:
Post a Comment