GMU:DIY Bio: doing things with biology/Sirin Unmanee/30.10.2018 : Isolating Bacteria from Kombucha, Growing Physarum polycephalum (2nd attempt) and others

Isolating Bacteria from Kombucha

Here is list of ingredients to prepare 500 ml of liquid Gluconcetobacter medium

Glucose - 10 g
Peptone - 2.5 g
Yeast extract - 2.5 g
Na2HPO4 - 1.35g
Citric acid - 0.75 g
Distilled or tap water - 500 ml
Agar - 7.5 g

However, in this case, I needed just 100 ml, so everything was divided by 5.

I diluted 2 ml of Kombucha and 8 ml of distilled water, then smeared one drop of that solution onto the first slot. The others' solutions were diluted in 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32 ratio respectively.

30.10.2018 - 20:30

There are yellow and orange dots in 1/4 and 1/32 slot, but others remain almost the same, except the medium is covered with icy surface.

07.11.2018 - 10:30

07.11.2018 - 10:30

I detached Orange and Yellow bacteria into other petri dishes.

20.11.2018 - 19:30

I found some interesting patterns here.

After one week, I detached the Yellow and Orange bacteria again. They formed a different shape this time.

27.11.2018 - 18:30

Then I detached them again, but I added food coloring in the petri dishes, Yellow medium for Yellow bacteria and Orange medium for Orange bacteria. Moreover, in this time I changed the medium to the LBP (Baird-Parker liquid) medium.

LBP agar
1 liter water
1 g lactose
1 g peptone
5.1 g Na2HPO4∗7 H2O
4.2 g KH2PO4
20 g agar

27.11.2018 - 19:30

After one week, the shape was different, it was more separated than when I cultivated them with Gluconcetobacter medium.

04.12.2018 - 19:30

In conclusion, Kombucha bacteria can be growing on both types of medium, with Gluconcetobacter medium they will form a shape like a colony, but with LBP medium they are more apart.

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Growing Physarum polycephalum (2nd attempt)

I failed growing slime mold at my 1st attempt, so I tried once again with three dishes (just in case!), but this time I kept all of them inside the cabinet in the lab. I've learnt form my 1st attempt that my room is not a suitable environment for growing slime mold.

01.11.2018 - 10:30

06.11.2018 - 10:30 under the microscope

I moved them into another dishes, since the oats are completely covered by mold.

09.11.2018 - 13:30

After two weeks, they died (again) due to the unsuitable temperature. It's more difficult to grow the Physarum during winter.

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Growing Bacteria from Chalk

I had Gluconcetobacter left, so I used that medium for growing bacteria from chalk. I expect to have some artworks form it, using a telescope camera.

30.10.2018 - 20:30

07.11.2018 - 10:30

They are contaminated, so I took one of the bacteria which is not fully contaminated to other dish.