Effect of Time and Temperature on Fungal and Bacterial Growth
MIC Practical Report Kerry Haarhoff
18 April 2012 3150540
Introduction
Bacteria and fungi are both micro-organisms, however, fungi are spore-producing organisms whereas bacteria are not and fungi can be multicellular and bacteria is only a unicellular organism. These 2 micro-organisms, along with many other things circulate in the air within our environment. These micro-organisms then settle and become more prevalent in different areas. An experiment was conducted to see where these micro-organisms were present and how widespread and abundant they were.
Method:
In the experiment, there were 3 environments in which agar plates were used to get bacteria and fungi. Environment No.1 was inside the lab with the laboratory air, environment No.2 was outside the lab in the open air and environment No.3 was taken from scalp scrapings from the students involved.
In environment 1, 6 agar plates were produced. The 6 plates were separated into groups of 2. Each group of 2 was exposed for different time periods; 5, 10 and 20 minutes respectively.1 plate for each time period was incubated at 25˚C (a) and the other 3 plates were incubated at 36˚C (b).
For environment 2, the above was repeated in the new environment.
The same was done for environment 3, however, the time periods were replaced by 15, 30 and 60 seconds respectively.
Results:
Table 1. Fungal results for experiment conducted by each group FUNGAL COUNT | | 10h50 - 13h00 group | 14h00 - 16h00 group | | | Environment | Time | Temp | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Average | Std Dev | No. 1.a | 5 min | 25 oC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | | | | 2.0 | 2.0976177 | | 10 min | 25 oC | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 2.3 | 1.16496475 | | 20 min | 25 oC | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 2 | | | | 5.2 | 2.31660671 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | No. 1.b | 5 min | 36 oC | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 1.1 | 1.88509189 | | 10 min | 36 oC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | 0.5
18 April 2012 3150540
Introduction
Bacteria and fungi are both micro-organisms, however, fungi are spore-producing organisms whereas bacteria are not and fungi can be multicellular and bacteria is only a unicellular organism. These 2 micro-organisms, along with many other things circulate in the air within our environment. These micro-organisms then settle and become more prevalent in different areas. An experiment was conducted to see where these micro-organisms were present and how widespread and abundant they were.
Method:
In the experiment, there were 3 environments in which agar plates were used to get bacteria and fungi. Environment No.1 was inside the lab with the laboratory air, environment No.2 was outside the lab in the open air and environment No.3 was taken from scalp scrapings from the students involved.
In environment 1, 6 agar plates were produced. The 6 plates were separated into groups of 2. Each group of 2 was exposed for different time periods; 5, 10 and 20 minutes respectively.1 plate for each time period was incubated at 25˚C (a) and the other 3 plates were incubated at 36˚C (b).
For environment 2, the above was repeated in the new environment.
The same was done for environment 3, however, the time periods were replaced by 15, 30 and 60 seconds respectively.
Results:
Table 1. Fungal results for experiment conducted by each group FUNGAL COUNT | | 10h50 - 13h00 group | 14h00 - 16h00 group | | | Environment | Time | Temp | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Average | Std Dev | No. 1.a | 5 min | 25 oC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | | | | 2.0 | 2.0976177 | | 10 min | 25 oC | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 2.3 | 1.16496475 | | 20 min | 25 oC | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 2 | | | | 5.2 | 2.31660671 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | No. 1.b | 5 min | 36 oC | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 1.1 | 1.88509189 | | 10 min | 36 oC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | 0.5