Biochemical Characteristics Of Bacteria Research Papers Examples

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INTRODUCTION:
Every bacterium has a cellular machinery which synthesizes various compounds to ensure the survival of that bacteria in different milieu. This synthesis is a series of biochemical reactions carried out with the help of enzymes and forming particular products at the end of the reaction. These end products and/or exclusive reactions are pathognomic of individual bacterium. It provides a great diagnostic tool in laboratories.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The bacteria were assessed based mainly on following different testing modalities. These tests were carbohydrate fermentation, catalase production, hydrogen sulphide test, indole test, and urea test and casein digestion.
The organisms selected for this experiment were both gram positive and gram negativea. Starch agar was required for carbohydrate fermentation, nutrition agar for catalase and skim milk agar for casein digestion. The organisms were Staphylcoccus Epidermidis, Enterococcus Faecalis, Bacillus Cereus, E.Coli, Proteus vulgaris, P.fluorescens etc.

RESULTS:

The results obtained after performing all three tests on the above mentioned organisms are tabulated in the table appended below.
The other set of results obtained are :
DISCUSSION:
Carbohydrate Fermentation:
Pommerville (n.d) describes that acid and gas are formed at the end of fermentation reaction of carbohydrate. The gas formed at the end is Carbon dioxide (CO2) and may or may not form in every carbohydrate fermenting bacteria.

Catalase Production:

Hydrogen peroxide is split by an enzyme called catalase which forms two molecules of H2O and O2. Hydrogen peroxide is a by-product of energy forming reactions and is toxic to cell’s integrity. Therefore its splitting is crucial. Though, it may not be considered as a good antiseptic due to its propensity to be easily degraded by bacterial catalase. Bacterial growth on agar can be confirmed by adding hydrogen peroxide.

Casein Digestion:

The protein component of milk constitutes 85% of casein. Bacteria can digest this protein with the help of proteinase enzyme. The degradation provides bacteria with amino acids for its nourishment. The characteristic white color to milk is given by casein and once proteinase acts, the agar starts to become clear. This makes the presence of casein digesting bacteria, apparent.

CONCLUSION:

The organisms included in these experiments showed various characteristics. Staphylococcus Epidermidis was tested for all three testing modality but it was only able to digest carbohydrate, split hydrogen peroxide and could not digest casein. E.Faecalis was negative for all three testing modalities while B.Cereus was positive for all three testing modalities. Further, hydrogen sulphide test was negative in all the rest of three organisms except P.vulgaris. same is the case for urea test. Indole test was positive in all three organisms except P.fluorescens while Citrate test was positive in all three organisms except E.Coli.

Works Cited

Pommerville, Jeffrey C. "Biochemical Characteristics of Bacteria." Alcamo's Laboratory Fundamentals of Microbiology. 10th ed. Burlington: Jones And Bartlett Learning, 2013. Print.