Isolation of Microorganisms from Environmental Samples

Introduction It is crucial in the field of microbiology to study the morphology, biological activity, and the behavior of microbes thus the isolation of such microbes from the environment is necessary because it allows scientists to study them in close proximity. Microbial life forms are found everywhere. They are major players in biogeochemical cycling of elements and primary producers in numerous environments. There are also some microbes living inside higher forms of organisms that aid in digestion and provide vitamins. Some microbes can also be antagonistic or harmful to humans, and when scientists isolate them, they can study and identify ways on how to counteract the microbes harmful effects. This exercise aims to isolate microorganisms from a variety of environmental samples and to enumerate the different microbial species observed.
Methodology

Results and Discussion Bacteria, molds and yeast have different colony morphologies and characteristics that are specific to the genus and species of the organism. Bacterial colonies can be classified by color, form, elevation, margin, opacity and size. Mold and yeast colonies can be classified and described by their color, texture, feature on the reverse side and more. Also, the source from which the bacteria samples were gathered should be taken into consideration. In the experiment, the microorganisms that were isolated were gathered and collected from the environment. As such, only ½ strength NA was prepared along with the SDA. It was observed on the NA plates that there were multiple bacterial colonies formed that did not differ so much in color or elevation. Most colonies were white or a color that is just as light, like yellow or salmon pink. The sizes of the isolated colonies are relatively small, most just less than 1mm in diameter. The NA plate in which bacterial colonies were numerous was on the ones exposed in air that is outside the laboratory. The fewest were the ones that were swabbed on