ABSTRACT:
The Microbiology & Immunology Laboratory Unknown Identification Project is designed to test the students’ skills and knowledge of performing biochemical tests learned during the course of the lab. Students receive a numbered tube containing a mixed culture of two unknown organisms and are required to determine the identity of each microorganism by performing a series of biochemical tests of their choice. Unknown test tube #25 was obtained and streaked onto two agar plates to obtain individually isolated colonies. The gram-staining procedure was used to determine organismal morphology, resulting in a gram-positive cocci and gram-negative bacilli. A sucrose utilization test was performed and narrowed the possibilities of the gram-negative …show more content…
E. cloacae is a gram-negative, rod-shaped (bacilli) bacterium. It possesses flagella for motility and is a facultative anaerobic microorganism that is able to obtain energy from both aerobic and anaerobic environments (Britannica). E. cloacae is a nosocomial pathogen, more commonly contracted in the ICU. Enterobacter are ubiquitous in nature. Animals contain Enterobacter in their intestinal tracts allowing for further transmission of the bacteria in soil, water and sewage (Britannica). In humans, pathogenic Enterobacter, such as E. cloacae, result in bacteremia, urinary tract infections (UTIs), intra-abdominal infections, endocarditis, lower respiratory infections, septic arthritis, and CNS and ophthalmic infections (Medscape). The management of these diseases is difficult due to the organism’s resistance to multiple antibiotics. Economically, E. cloacae reduces soluble, toxic selenite that can bio-accumulate in the food chain to elemental selenite that is non-toxic and insoluble (Microbwiki). Additionally, E. cloacae has been used as a biological control for plant disease
The Microbiology & Immunology Laboratory Unknown Identification Project is designed to test the students’ skills and knowledge of performing biochemical tests learned during the course of the lab. Students receive a numbered tube containing a mixed culture of two unknown organisms and are required to determine the identity of each microorganism by performing a series of biochemical tests of their choice. Unknown test tube #25 was obtained and streaked onto two agar plates to obtain individually isolated colonies. The gram-staining procedure was used to determine organismal morphology, resulting in a gram-positive cocci and gram-negative bacilli. A sucrose utilization test was performed and narrowed the possibilities of the gram-negative …show more content…
E. cloacae is a gram-negative, rod-shaped (bacilli) bacterium. It possesses flagella for motility and is a facultative anaerobic microorganism that is able to obtain energy from both aerobic and anaerobic environments (Britannica). E. cloacae is a nosocomial pathogen, more commonly contracted in the ICU. Enterobacter are ubiquitous in nature. Animals contain Enterobacter in their intestinal tracts allowing for further transmission of the bacteria in soil, water and sewage (Britannica). In humans, pathogenic Enterobacter, such as E. cloacae, result in bacteremia, urinary tract infections (UTIs), intra-abdominal infections, endocarditis, lower respiratory infections, septic arthritis, and CNS and ophthalmic infections (Medscape). The management of these diseases is difficult due to the organism’s resistance to multiple antibiotics. Economically, E. cloacae reduces soluble, toxic selenite that can bio-accumulate in the food chain to elemental selenite that is non-toxic and insoluble (Microbwiki). Additionally, E. cloacae has been used as a biological control for plant disease