Question

1..Research the microorganisms listed below. List the full taxonomy (phylum, class, order, family, genus, species) of each microorganism, and write at least two sentences about a feature/characteristic of each microbe that you find interesting (we are using these strains in experiments in the next laboratory, so linking this feature/characteristic to the laboratory practical will assist your understanding).

Streptococcus pneumoniae:

Staphylococcus aureus:

Escherichia coli:

Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

2.Describe the difference between alpha-, beta-, and gamma-haemolysis?

3.What is a microbial cultivation selective medium and why do microbiologists use them？

4.New Zealand drinking water standards require zero coliforms to be detected in 100 mL of sampled water. If you were unable to detect any coliform colonies on a Petrifilm sheet, would you be confident that you met NZ standards safe drinking water standards? Explain the reasons for your answer.

5.In the laboratory experiment where you used the Most Probable Number method to determine the number of coliforms in the Library Pond water, you used both single strength and double-strength (double concentration) Maconkey medium. In one set of five universal vials, you inoculated 10 mL of duckpond water into 10 mL of double-strength MaConkey medium. Why do you think we used double-strength Maconkey medium instead of single strength medium for this set?

Answer 1