14: Larrea Tridentata Preliminary Results

Me getting my silly faces out before the presentation

Preliminary Results: Leaf Microbiome of Larrea tridentata in Urban Phoenix Versus Rural Phoenix

This week, I focused on preparing to present my preliminary results to the S-STEM Team. During the presentation, I focused on summarizing the project focus and initial results. A summary of the results can be found below:

A total of 25 colony samples were isolated, however only 24 colony samples were analyzed due to a testing error with the colony sample from the Phoenix urban area (See Table 1). Initial results showed that roughly one third of the unknown samples have a Bacillus cell morphology, 29.2% have Cocci cell morphology, and 37.5% of the samples have a Coccobacilli cell morphology. Roughly 90% of the samples tested positive for endospores. Seventy-one percent of the samples tested positive for acid production in glucose, 54.2 % of the samples tested positive for acid production in Triple Sugar Iron Agar media, and over half of the samples tested positive for acid production in Mannitol Salt Agar media.. Approximately 75.0% percent of the samples were able to grow in 42 degrees Celsius. All the samples tested positive for gram stains and negative for Simmons Citrate. Nearly half of the samples tested positive for aerobic growth. 

13: Larrea Tridentata Metabolic Test Completion

Metabolic Tests

Larrea Tridentata Metabolic Test Completion

I feel like the last two weeks have been a race against time. My goal is to finish testing and analyzing data for the remaining culture samples before our final paper is due. I finally completed all the metabolic and morphological tests on all 25 culture samples. It's definitely been a challenge to try and finish this goal, because for each culture sample, 13 different tests were needed to be completed. In total, that was 325 tests that had to be completed. I used an excel spreadsheet to keep track of all the tests ran and the results. I will focus on presenting the information collected thus far on the 25 culture samples. Next semester, I will focus on identifying the bacteria species of the 25 culture samples.