practical 6 in a test-tube...

In your next practical you will be having a good look at all those plates you spread last week, and you will be doing various tests such as the Gram stain, Oxidase test and Catalase test in order to characterise the bacteria you have grown.

The day is split into the following activities:

Activity 1 : Interpret and describe the bacterial colonies that have grown on the agar plates you set up during activity 2 on day 1 (this was using the artificial mixture). Further characterise the bacteria using various tests such as the Gram Stain, Catalase test and Oxidase test.

Activity 2 :  Interpret and describe the bacterial colonies that have grown on the agar plates you set up during activity 3 on day 1 (this was using the mushroom compost). Further characterise the bacteria using the Gram Stain and calculate the number of viable bacteria that were present in the compost.

Activity 3 : Interpret the results from the antibiotic sensitivity test set up during activity 4 on day 1

All of the posts I wrote for last week will be relevant for this week too, so have a look in the archive at the side of the page for these...

It should be a pretty interesting practical :)