E. Coli Lab Report Essay

Throughout this lab, students worked with a common bacterium called Escherichia coli, which is a gram-negative bacterium that is found living in the digestive tracts of humans and animals. In the lab, various steps were carried out to evaluate and analyze the selective mediums that were created after doing our dilutions. Additionally, the number of colonies forming was calculated from specific time periods to establish a valid growth curve for E. coli. The growth curve’s shape and length is determined by the genetics of the organism, growth medium, and incubation conditions. (Saltman, Lab 9) Because bacteria reproduce by binary fission in a duplicate manner, the time of each doubling of the population is called the generation time. This generation growth is exponential. The purpose of this lab was to establish a growth curve to get a better understanding of the bacterium’s growth pattern under specific time segments and certain growth conditions. There are a few reasons to count the numbers of organisms in a solution or an environment. One is to determine the clinical definition of an infection. Another reason is to establish standards pertaining to water and food quality control and lastly, the need to know the desired number of organisms for a research experiment. By …show more content…
In conclusion, the hypothesis the SPC method of establishing a growth curve and determining the number of bacteria colonies present in a culture would be more accurate than the OD spectrophotometer could be true in more experienced cases where there is less chance of human error because the Spec 20 cannot differentiate viable cells and dead cells. The Standard plate count method, considering if the inoculations and dilutions are done correctly, and the environmental conditions are most efficient for growth of E. coli, then this method should be better for establishing an accurate growth