Download Nature of Microbes

Wellsway School Science Team
Curriculum 2006
Triple Science - Biology workbook
NATURE OF
MICROBES
WORKBOOK
Name:_________________
Tutor Group:____________
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Wellsway School Science Team
Microbes and Mankind
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2.
Curriculum 2006
Triple Science - Biology workbook
4. NATURE OF MICROBES
OBJECTIVES:
What are microbes and are there different types?
How are they seen?
How can they be grown?
How were their effects first proved?
By the end of this topic you should:
(a) Know that microbes include bacteria, viruses and fungi. A bacterial cell consists of
cytoplasm, cell membrane and a cell wall. There is no distinct nucleus. Bacteria
reproduce by dividing into two.
(b) Know that viruses are smaller than bacteria. They consist of a protein coat
surrounding a small number of genes and can only reproduce inside a host cell. The
production of new viruses results in the destruction of the host cell and the release of new
viruses which can then attack new cells.
(c) Know that yeasts are fungi. Yeast cells are larger than bacteria and have a nucleus,
cytoplasm and a membrane surrounded by a cell wall. Yeasts reproduce by budding.
(d) Understand the safe use of basic aseptic techniques involved in inoculating, plating
and incubating microbes.
(e) Investigate the presence of bacteria in milk using agar plates.
(f) Explore information about the effect of temperature on the growth of bacteria and
understand its application in food storage.
(g) Understand how Pasteur used scientific method to devise experiments and make
deductions. This resolved the controversy about the, traditionally held, theory of
'spontaneous generation', whereby non-living substances could give rise to life, and
proved the role of micro organisms as the source of food spoilage.
Look at the video, OR MSS presentation OR PowerPoint presentation, OR read your
textbook on GROUPS OF MICROBES. Discuss the different groups of microbes with
your teacher.
a. Make a list of the 3 main groups of microbe.
3.
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Construct a BACTERIA FACTFILE, including a LABELLED DRAWING showing the
structure of a bacterium;
Wellsway School Science Team
Curriculum 2006
where bacteria grow; anywhere
Triple Science - Biology workbook
warm, moist & with food (not
salty!);
e.g. in living things (parasitic); soil, freshwater, rotting
organic matter, sewage, etc.
how they reproduce; binary
fission: asexual; cell just divides into 2,
grows then divides again. Can happen every 20 minutes!
examples of useful bacteria;
cheese & yoghurt manufacture (“good bacteria” – Yakult!);
sewage bacteria; decay bacteria;
common diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria.
Tetanus, Typhoid, Tuberculosis (TB), Cholera, Salmonella,
Bacterial Meningitis.
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Construct a VIRUSES FACTFILE including a LABELLED DRAWING showing the
structure of a virus;
where viruses grow;
ONLY in other living cells – they are all PARASITES!
how they reproduce;
How viruses reproduce.
1. Viral DNA is injected into host cell.
2. Viral DNA becomes incorporated into host cell DNA, in the
nucleus.
3. The viral DNA “instructs” enzymes in the host cell to make
new virus protein coats.
4. The viral DNA also multiplies inside the host cell.
5. The new viral DNA & protein coats join together to make new
viruses.
6. The host cell bursts releasing the new viruses.
7. The new viruses are now free to infect other cells.
the effect of viruses on host cells;
They usually kill them!
common diseases caused by pathogenic viruses.
Cold, ‘flu, AIDS, measles, rubella, viral meningitis, mumps.
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Triple Science - Biology workbook
Construct a YEAST FACTFILE, including a LABELLED DRAWING showing
how the size and the structure of yeast differs from that of a bacterium;
yeast cells are much larger than bacteria (4 – 12 µm =
4/1000 – 12/1000 mm) – similar in size to a red blood cell.
Fungal cells are similar to plant cells BUT lack chloroplasts
& chlorophyll AND they store glycogen, not starch.
where yeasts grow naturally;
Anywhere warm, moist & with a good supply of
carbohydrate – mouldy bread, fruit, etc. Some yeasts are
parasitic & grow in living things.
how they reproduce;
Asexually, by BUDDING (b4u, P 154) – a kind of mitosis.
Also by sexual reproduction, where 2 cells join & exchange
genes.
examples of uses made by yeast.
Brewing – yeast feeds on sugar & converts it to ALCOHOL
(ETHANOL), & releases CARBON DIOXIDE (an example of
ANAEROBIC RESPIRATION).
Bread-making – the carbon dioxide released causes bread
dough to RISE (“leavened” bread).
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Curriculum 2006
Triple Science - Biology workbook
Look at the video, OR MSS presentation OR PowerPoint presentation, OR read your
textbook on GROWING MICROBES. Discuss with your teacher how bacteria can be
grown on agar plates. If possible, watch the demonstration of inoculating an agar plate.
Answer the following questions carefully:
a. What is agar?
A jelly (made of seaweed) which bacteria (& fungi) grow well on.
b. What is nutrient agar?
As above, plus nutrients to encourage healthy growth of bacteria.
c. What is a Petri dish?
A round (glass or plastic) dish with a lid. Transparent, for observing
growth of bacteria.
d. What is a nutrient agar plate?
A petri dish filled with solidified nutrient agar.
e. Explain the meaning of the term “aseptic techniques”.
Carrying out a procedure which ensures no bacteria are
transmitted EXCEPT those being studied.
f. Suggest 3 ways of maintaining aseptic conditions when culturing bacteria.
1. Never remove lid of petri dish,
2. Always sterilise equipment being used, e.g. “flame” the wire
loop, by heating it in a blue Bunsen flame for a few seconds.
3. Wash hands or wear gloves while inoculating agar plates.
g. Explain clearly how to inoculate bacteria onto a nutrient agar plate.
1. Flame the wire loop, & allow to cool for a few seconds.
2. Dip the loop into the sample medium (e.g. soil, water, milk).
3. Lift the lid of the dish and inoculate the plate in a
square/diamond, each side consisting of 3 parallel lines.
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Triple Science - Biology workbook
4. Seal the plate AROUND THE EDGE, leaving a 1 cm air gap.
h. Explain how bacteria are cultured on a nutrient agar plate.
1. Leave the plate in a warm, dark place for 24 hours. Optimum
temperature is 37°C.
2. Examine the plate and count the colonies that have grown. Each
colony has developed from ONE bacterium.
i.
Draw a typical agar plate which has been inoculated and cultured. Label the small
“circles” and explain how each circle develops.
One colony of bacteria
Each “circle” is a colony of thousands of bacteria which have
grown from the binary fission (division) of a single bacterium.
7.
Investigating the presence of bacteria in milk using agar plates.
You are provided with samples of milk of different freshness. It has been suggested that
milk turns sour because of large numbers of bacteria growing in the milk.
Plan and carry out an experiment to find out whether there are more bacteria in sour milk.
a. Outline of plan.
1. Inoculate a small sample of milk onto separate agar plates
using a sterile loop.
2. Seal the plates with sellotape & label clearly on the edge.
3. Incubate a t room temperature for 36-48 hours.
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Triple Science - Biology workbook
b. Independent variable.
Age of milk
c. Dependent variable.
Number of colonies growing on the plate.
d. Control variables.
Type of agar used
Type of milk used
Method of inoculation
Temperature of incubation
Time of incubation
Once you have had your plan approved, set up your agar plates and leave them to
incubate for 24 hours at 37°C. Once your plates are set up, continue with section 8.
Once your plates have incubated, examine each one (N.B. DO NOT TAKE OFF THE
LIDS!), and draw or describe the appearance of each plate in the results section.
Results.
Sample
1
Age (weeks)
4
No. of colonies (circles)
Dozens!
2
3
Hundreds!
3
2
Hundreds!
4
1
Hundreds!
5
0
Very few (1 or 2 mould
colonies)
Conclusion. Explain whether your results support the original idea.
Our hypothesis was correct EXCEPT for the oldest milk. This might
be because the bacteria are running out of food in the milk, or even
being poisoned by their own waste.
Pasteurised milk has been treated to kill MOST bacteria, but not
all. This is shown in sample 5 – a few bacteria were present, which
then multiply rapidly, producing the large numbers shown in
samples 2-4.
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Triple Science - Biology workbook
Evaluation. Suggest limitations of the techniques used and possible improvements you
could make.
1. Use milk days old, rather than weeks old, as this would have
shown a gradual increase in the number of bacteria present,
rather than the huge numbers shown in samples 2-4.
2. Some samples were contaminated. We need to improve our
aseptic techniques, e.g. wash hands, sterile gloves, face masks,
sterilise bench, etc.
3. The plates were incubated for 48 hours which was too long. 36
hours would have produced better results.
8.
The effect of temperature on the growth of bacteria
In common with all living organisms, the activity of bacteria is controlled by ENZYMES.
This activity includes GROWTH and REPRODUCTION.
In an investigation, harmless bacteria were inoculated onto nutrient agar plates and then
incubated at different temperatures for 24 hours. The number of colonies of bacteria
which grew were counted and recorded. The results are shown in the table below:
Temperature (°C)
No of bacterial
colonies after 24
hrs
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0
5
20
43
91
20
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2
1
a. Draw a line graph in the space below:
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Curriculum 2006
Triple Science - Biology workbook
b. EXPLAIN fully the shape of the graph, at:
(i) Low temperatures
Too cold for bacterial reproduction. As temperature increases,
more kinetic energy is supplied, which increases ENZYME activity,
so bacteria reproduce more quickly.
(ii) Medium temperatures
Optimum temperature for bacterial reproduction. Enzyme activity is
at a maximum.
(iii) High temperatures
Increasingly, bacterial enzymes are DENATURED by the high
temperatures, eventually only a few resistant strains can survive.
c. How have the results of this investigation been put to good use by people in the food
industry attempting to find ways of preventing food being spoiled by bacterial decay? List
as many different examples as you can think of to support your answer.
Keep food cold (fridge or freezer) to prevent bacterial reproduction.
Heat food - Boil / sterilise / cook / pasteurise. This kills bacteria &
denatures their enzymes.
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9.
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Triple Science - Biology workbook
Independent research: Louis Pasteur.
Produce 1 or 2 A4 pages highlighting some of the important discoveries made by Louis
Pasteur in the 19th Century.
One of these MUST be the way he proved that microbes (bacteria) did not arise by
'spontaneous generation'.
Another MUST be how he proved the role of micro organisms as the source of food
spoilage.
Ensure you include information about how Pasteur used the scientific method to devise
experiments and make deductions.
10. Well done! You have now completed the ‘Nature of Microbes’ topic.
Now you need to revise your work in preparation for the ‘Nature of Microbes’ test.
11. Useful web links:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/biology/humansasorganisms/maintaininghealthrev1.shtml
http://www.biotopics.co.uk/pot/yeast1.html
http://www.s-cool.co.uk/topic_principles.asp?loc=pr&topic_id=5&subject_id=17&ebt=49&ebn=&ebs=&ebl=&elc=4
http://www.purchon.com/biology/blood.htm
http://www.revisionworld.co.uk/gcse/biology/humans-organisms/maintaining-health/fighting-infection (general revision
site)
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Glossary. (Muddled – sort them out!)
Agar
Outer layer of bacterial, fungal and plant cells
Aseptic
Method of asexual reproduction in yeast
Bacteria
Techniques which prevent the spread of unwanted microbes
Budding
Jelly-like material made from seaweed which bacteria grow on
Group of simple, single-celled microbes, some of which cause disease
Cell wall
Colony
Breakdown of sugars to alcohol & CO2, e.g. by yeast enzymes
Culture
Varied group, all with microscopic threads or cells e.g. yeast
Decay
Grow microbes (e.g. bacteria or fungi) on a nutrient agar plate
Fermentation
Visible circle containing millions of bacteria, all grown from one
Rotting.
Large molecules digested to small ones by bacterial or fungal
Fungi
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Inoculate
Famous French scientist who proved that some microbes cause
disease
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Incubate
Louis Pasteur
Microbe
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Nutrient agar plate
Pathogen
Petri dish
Protein coat
Petri dish containing agar with nutrients for bacterial growth
Microscopic organism, e.g. bacteria, fungi, viruses
Introduce microbes onto an area e.g. put bacteria on an agar
plate
Grow microbes at a fixed temperature, usually 37°C
Smallest of all microbes. Can only grow inside other living cells
Completely free from microbes e.g. by boiling or disinfectant
Any microbe capable of causing disease
Group of single-celled fungi important in brewing and baking
(False) Idea than living cells can arise from non-living materials
Outer layer of viruses, surrounding a length of genes
Glass or plastic container into which agar is poured to form a
plate
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enzymes
Spontaneous generation
Sterile
Virus
Yeast
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1
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13. Questions.
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Triple Science - Biology workbook
Wellsway School Science Team
10.
Curriculum 2006
Triple Science - Biology workbook
11.
GCSE - WJEC
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