EXER5

1.
2.
3.
4.

List down three other media with their uses in describing the cultural characteristics of bacteria.
Why do some microorganismscharacateristically form growth of the pellicle type?
What environmental factors may alter formation of a pellicle?
What is the importance of using a test/control organism in describing the cultural characteristics
of an unknown bacterium?

EXER6
1. Can you vary the primary stain and counterstain in the Gram staining procedure? Explain.
Can you vary the primary stain andcounterstain in the Gram- staining? Yes. Gram reagents are
not trulyspecific for the differentiation. Any dye ormordant can be used if the dye can
deeplycolor the cell and if the precipitate of thesereagents are soluble in alcohol and
relativelysoluble in the counterstain.
2. What would be the effect of replacing iodine with other oxidizing agents?
Oxidizing agents can shift thegram positive character of bacteriatoward the gram negative state.
Thus,there will be no formation of Crystal Violet complex and there will bereversal of charges.
3. What is the importance of using freshly prepared KOH?
4. What is the influence of pH and age of cultures on Gram reaction?
Gram staining result depends on theage of the culture. Gram positive bacteriamay
turn gram negative if they are too old.It is best to do the procedure in the
cultureswhere the organisms are vigorous ratherthan old ones.
The pH may alter stainingeffectiveness since the nature and degreeof the charge on cell
components changewith pH. Thus anionic dyes stain best underacidic conditions when proteins
and manyother molecules carry a positive charge;basic dyes are most effective at higher pHs.
The Gram positive organism
become Gram negative upontreatment with an oxidizing agent,whereas the Gram negative
organism become Gram positiveupon treatment with reducing oralkaline agents.
5. What is the significance of using known/reference cultures in Gram staining?
6. Prolonged incubation will cause bigger and largercapsule. It will be easier to observe and distinguish

EXER7
1. Which of the two media was more favorable for capsule formation of Acetobacteraceti var.
xylinum/ Bacillus subtilis? Explain.
2. What would be the effect of prolonged incubation on capsule formation?
3. Give the various advantages of capsulated bacteria over non-capsulated bacteria.
EXER8

At the optimum temperature, or at temperaturesabove optimum, the cell might prioritize

synthesisof other cellular structures. This is because the saidtemperature range would cause
damage toflagellin synthesis. . .Also, the RNA messenger for flagellinsynthesis is inactivated or not being
synthesized at this range. At 5C below
optimum, proteins needed for thesynthesis of flagellin could bemanufactured by the cell, thereforepromoting
production of flagella.

1. What is the function of EDTA in the motility medium?

EDTA is a chelating agent which preventsclumping of cells. Molecules of EDTA wouldform
multiple bonds with metal ions. Thesemetal ions bind to flagellin, hindering flagellarsynthesis.
The metal ions bind to EDTAinstead of flagellin and thus, flagellar synthesiswould proceed.
2. Can bacteria have flagella but are not motile? Explain.
EXER9
1. Under favorable conditions, will all bacteria produce at least one type of storage granule? Cite
specific examples.
2. Do all bacteria contain storage granules at all stages in their life cycle? Explain.
3. In this exercise, what will be the outcome if B. megateriumwas grown in a rich medium? Explain.
EXER10
1. What other genera of bacteria produces spores?
2. How are the spores of actinomycetes differentiated from endospores of bacteria?
3. Explain the physiological basis of using an amyloid dye to detect the presence of endospores. Is
this method of spore detection applicable to fungal spores? Why or why not?
4. Do endospore always germinate under favorable conditions? Explain.
5. Why are the spore producing bacteria a problem in the food industry?