BIOLOGY 114--THE MICROBIAL WORLD & BIOLOGY 314--MICROBIOLOGY           ILLINOIS WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

During the last six weeks of the semester you will be given the opportunity to apply the procedures you have been learning and extend the thought processes you have been developing in order to solve an individually assigned problem through a combination of laboratory experimentation and analysis. The problem you are assigned will come from the following list of potential problems:

PROBLEMS TO BE ASSIGNED TO VARIOUS INDIVIDUALS

Topic 19 Selective Enrichment Culture Problems (page 79)

A. To isolate and identify Lactococcus lactus.

B. To isolate and identify a Bacillus species from the soil.

C. To isolate a thermophilic microorganism from soil or humus, and determine whether it is a steno- or eurythermophile.

D. To isolate a halophilic microorganism, and determine (1) its maximum tolerance to NaCl, and (2) whether or not it is obligately halophilic.

E. To isolate a pectin-decomposing bacterium from soil, water or a natural plant part, and to determine whether or not it also has cellulase activity.

F. To isolate an oil decomposing bacterium from soil or water.

G. To isolate a purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium.


H. To isolate a cellular slime mold from nature and to document its development.


I.  To isolate a slime bacteria from nature.

Topic 21 IB (page 84)

To determine the effect of bactericidal or bacteriostatic proprietary disinfectants or antiseptics on survival and subsequent growth of a spore-forming bacterium and a non-spore forming bacterium.

Topic 21 IID (page 89)

To isolate and assay the antibiotic production of soil microorganisms (bacteria or fungi).

Topic 21 IV (page 93)

To determine the effect of heat on the survival and subsequent growth of a spore-forming bacterium and a non-spore-forming bacterium.

Topic 21 V (page 95)

To determine the gross effect of osmotic pressure (using solutions of sucrose and NaCl of equal osmotic pressure) on the growth and recovery of two species of bacteria.

Topic 21 VI (page 97)

To determine the effects of drying on the survival and subsequent growth of a spore-forming bacterium and a non-spore-forming bacterium.

Topic 21 IX (page 103)

To determine the effect of microwave radiation on the survival and subsequent growth of a spore-forming bacterium and a non-spore-forming bacterium.

Topic 24 (page 117)

Problem A: Enumerate E. coli in 1 gram of meat.
Problem B: Enumerate Enterobacter spp. in 1 gram of meat.
Problem C: Isolate (but do not enumerate) a lipolytic species.

COMMENTS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ASSIGNMENTS (Spring, 2009)

• On February 25th (Bio 114 students) or February 26th (Bio 314 students), you alone or you and your lab partner will be assigned one of the above projects to work on and to solve. You may (and are encouraged to) work with others in your table group on your problem and on theirs--brainstorming ideas, serving as a sounding board for ideas, helping make media, helping carry out experimental procedures, analyzing results, etc.--but you and your partner will have responsibility for the work on your own problem.
  
• After clearly defining your problem, you will need to design, plan, carry out the necessary experimental work, record and analyze the results; if necessary, you might need to design, plan and carry out additional experiments to solve the problem. The work will include small challenges and lots of fun!
  
• You may use your textbook, your lab manual, and the books available in the laboratory to do background reading which might be relevant to your problem. If you have questions whether or not specific media or equipment is available for your use, ask Dr. Dey or the laboratory teaching assistants.
  
• Remember to think through what you want to do and then thoroughly plan and prepare before you begin carrying out experiments. Be sure to get started on you project right away so you will have plenty of time for follow-up experiments if you initial one doesn't work as you might have predicted. You will be required to submit a written copy of you initial experimental design on or before 9:25 am, Thursday, March 5th, so I can see that you are getting ready to start your experimental work in a timely fashion.
  
• All laboratory work on your project/problem should be completed by the end of laboratory on Monday, April 13th (114 students) or on Tuesday, April 14th (314 students). Written reports of your work on the assigned problem are due noon, Wednesday, April 15th. Oral reports of projects will be given on April 15th, 16th, 20th, 21th & 24th (114 students) or April 14th, 16th, 20th, 21st & 23rd (314 students). Instructions for preparing the written and oral reports are provided.

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