Saturday, April 24, 2010

How would u research an unknown bacteria?

Lets say its similar to the cholera bacterium. This is just a general question.

How would u research an unknown bacteria?
In addition to colony (size, pattern, color etc.), morphology and structure, gram stain, and biochemical characteristics, I would attempt to find some universal primers to study ribosomal RNA for classification. Whether the primers work or not will lead you to the next step.
Reply:Put it in a search engine...... like yahoo, or google, wikipedia,





DUH!
Reply:if you mean in the internet they go to a search engine, if you mean as a laboratory work I would get all kinds of bacteria I can find and they but in a mic next to the unknown one and make a list of the things they have in common, at least it would help to classify the bacteria...


good luck
Reply:First isolate it, i.e. attempt to grow it in a petri dish. Once they get growing, transfer samples to different nutrition media, such as lacking certain nutrients.


Do gram staining, check them out under a microscope with more staining techniques, subject them to different temperatures. Looking at the spot they were found at can also be helpful.
Reply:Unknown? As in previously undiscovered or one you know nothing about.





Actually it has become very easy to find new bacteria. It has become a fad among microbiologist working on their PhD's. It is fairly easy to find a new bacteria. All you have to do is look in a place or substrate or soil or mud just about anywhere. Find the bacteria, check it out, see if it has been described. There are many millions of bacteria that have not been identified.





People know these critters exist but up until recently nobody has had much interest in finding it. Generally because we know which ones are harmful to humans, the rest, if they have not proved harmful have been ignored.





But, with the onslaught of "Green" research and finding alternatives to fuel, like bio fuel, and alternatives to cleaning up things like oil spills, there is a renewed interest in bacteria.





But researching a "unknown" means you gotta start form the very being. One of the most important steps is determining its DNA. That's how bacteria are cataloged or classified.
Reply:I would inoculate the bacteria on to petri dish and incubate it for few days and see how the colonies turn out...colonies morphology,margin,elevation,color gives an idea as to which bacteria it could be...





then go for Gram staining to confirm


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