Week #3, September 19, 2013: Dictionary Required

This week has gone by so fast. I am still up to my eyeballs in research on Rhizobia. I know in our presentations and final papers we would never cite Wikipedia, but in this case it was a great first step in trying to understand the terms that are serving as the foundation of my project.

For inquiring minds, Rhizobia are gram negative symbiotic diazotrophs found in the soil that convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia which is then used by plants to produce protein.  I thank Matt for sending me information via DropBox; although, I have to admit 600 pages of research is a bit on the heavy side. I am grateful for me eidetic memory so at least my mind can have something to read while I am falling asleep.

On Monday, I poured Yeast Mannitol Plates. Yeast Mannitol is one of the media I will be using for my project; the other being Mueller Hinton. To the Yeast Mannitol Agar, I added both crystal violet and neutral red. I added Crystal Violet to eliminate gram positive bacteria and Neutral Red so that the Rhizobia colonies can ferment the Mannitol and consequently uptake the Neutral Red and turn a reddish-pink. The by-product of the fermentation is acid. This will cause the areas around the Rhizobia colonies to become clear. Both metabolic processes will help to distinguish Rhizobia colonies. 

Did any of that make sense? If not, at least I can update you on my planting endeavor. Remember I told you I had one of the greenest thumbs in the industry. Below, you can see whether or not I was telling you the truth (5 out of 12 in just 7 days). They are hanging out in the lighted incubator or as Matt says in his Midwestern accent: "grow box". Maybe next week I will tell you the names of the plants. Any guesses? 

~Carpe Diem~

Rhizobia. (2013, June 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2:36, September 19, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhizobia&oldid=560612709