ubiquity of microbes

Question 1

ubiquity def

Answer 1

presence

Question 2

outcomes

Answer 2

determine whether microbes (bacteria & fungi) are ubiquitous in your surroundings
compare and contrast abundance and diversity of bacteria and fungi across a variety of every day environments
identify how selective culture media can be used for the select growth of bacteria and fungi

Question 3

background

Answer 3

microbes are everywhere

Question 4

BHIA

Answer 4

selective media to grow bacteria
pH = 7.4 (optimal for most bacteria but too alkaline for fungi)
temp = 35*C

Question 5

SABA

Answer 5

selective media to grow fungi
pH = 5.6 (optimal for fungi but too acidic for bacteria)
temp = room temp (20-22*C)

Question 6

procedure 1-3

Answer 6

1. identify 6 locations to test (shoe, floor, toilet seat, sink faucet, hand, phone screen)
2. label bottom of 6 bhia dishes and 6 saba dishes (site, my & partners initials, date)
3. decide how to sample each site
   (dry surface- moisten swab with sterile saline, if dry do not moisten)
   (air- remove lids of plates and expose agar surface to the air by waving it around the room for 1 min)
   (finger- use finger as a swab and streak the dishes)

Question 7

procedure 4-6

Answer 7

4. samples collecting with swab- collect samples spinning it around so its on all sides of swab then lawn-streak surfaces of BHIA/SABA plates
5. if sampling finger, lawn-streak a dif finger for each dish
6. invert dishes and place into 2 stacks and put bhia and saba dishes into correct incubator

Question 8

how do bhia/saba plates select for bacteria/fungi

Answer 8

bhia plates select for bacteria when the sample, which contains bacteria, is streaked along the bhia which is a selective media which will only grow bacteria because it has a pH of 7.4 which is too alkaline for fungi and kept at a temp of 35*C