Week 5

Hello there,
This week we washed and sanitized our plastic pieces, making sure that they were free of debris or any growth. This was interesting as we were trying to find ways to get the "gunk" off of them. Needless to say, it got kind of messy. We really had to make sure the bacterial growth was off entirely and since they're small plastic pieces, my clumsy self lost one for a moment. Thankfully Luisa was able to spot it!
Random note: They're numbered 1 through 6, in which each plastic is a different type. So plastic #1 is PET or Polyethylene Terephthalate, plastic #2 is HDPE or High-Density Polyethylene, plastic #3 is PVC or Polyvinyl Chloride, plastic #4 is LDPE or Low-Density Polyethylene, plastic #5 is PP or Polypropylene and lastly, plastic #6 is PS or Polystyrene.
After sanitizing them, they were each weighed individually. Below is the data that was collected from the plastic pieces that were retrieved in January. And they were the same ones that we took from the canal water to perform gram staining test.

This is the table for the mass (g) for each of the 6 types of plastic pieces. 

Week Four

Hello there!

This week was a short one, but my lab partners and I kept busy by looking at our gram staining slides through a microscope. This will help us get closer to identifying the type of microbe growing on the plastics. We were looking to identify the type of bacteria based on color and shape. Characteristics that we took note of were, pink/red or purple color and also whether it was a coccus, bacillus or other shapes. Next week, we'll bring our information together and make a conclusion based on our results. 

I was also able to learn how to make agar plates. Thankfully, Josh and Amber were able to walk me through it. Below is a picture of the mixture in an Erlenmeyer flask, right before it was brought to a boil. I didn't realize how time consuming it was to prepare these, but overall it was nice familiarizing myself with a different parts of the lab.

Week Three

This week we finished gram staining the bacterial growth that was found on the plastics labeled 1 through 6. Next we will be able to get a closer look at the bacteria through looking at its cell wall composition and making a determination of whether it's a gram negative or gram positive bacteria.
Some of these are new concepts and procedures for me, so I'm going to delve into the basics of my understanding of it. And this way I can come back later to look over it if I need to. If there's any other relevant info I missed, please feel free to share.

This is the slide for Plastic # 5
(plate 2), plastic sample # 5.
Note, the red/pink color
of the sample.

Collectively, we reasoned that the bacteria growing on the plastics are gram negative. One indicator of that for me was, while rinsing the samples with the decolorizing agent the crystal violet and iodine complex would wash away easily. Since gram positive bacteria have multi-layered peptidoglycan cell walls, the crystal violet & iodine would've binded and stained purple instead of washing away.
Another indicator that someone in my group pointed out was that the safronin was more prominent in our samples. I read that in a gram positive bacteria, the purple would have stayed in the sample. And for gram negative a pink/red stain should result. Next week we'll be looking at the slides and hopefully make a better determination.

Week Two

I've familiarized myself even more with the lab. I like how organized it's been. Especially where I've been working, since I can find stuff more easily now. But fair warning, this post will be long. Since I'm still getting the swing of things, I want to share what I've learned so far. And if anyone has any insight or helpful tips, I would really appreciate if you shared. I love learning new things and seeing things from a different perspective, so let me know.

This week, we were gram staining the bacterial cultures that was found growing on the plastic pieces. Since I'm jumping into this project mid research, I'm still gathering as much information as I can. I'm thankful for my partners Luisa and Cathy, they've been so patient with me, ready to answer any of my questions and quick to fill me in on the project. The purpose of our research is to see if bacteria commonly found in canal water can deteriorate plastic. They had assembled a fish tank that has several plastic pieces submerged into canal water. Their intent was to create a similar aquatic environment as a canal. With the sand and the water, they were able to achieve this. A few weeks after winter break, they found visible growth in the water tank. Afterwards, they obtained plastic samples, labeled, then weighed and placed them in an agar plate. This is where I'm currently at in the project. So now we are challenged with the question of which microbes are growing on the plastic pieces. Many microbes can be found in canal water and it's important that we deduce which is currently thriving on the plastic. We will have to go through a series of procedures to rule out and determine which microbe is growing. We are currently working on gram staining our cultures. 

Next we'll look at them in a microscope to determine if they are gram negative or gram positive. 

Another important question is, has there been any deterioration on the plastic pieces? It's important to note that it's currently in a controlled environment, so hopefully that can help with future questions we may stumble upon later. But I think finding the best way to determine if there is any break down in the plastic is going to be our next challenge.

Week One

Week one was an interesting and productive one. So far, I've familiarized myself with the labs in the Dalby building and I completed all the Responsible Conduct of Research courses. This includes 11 modules going over data management, collaborative research and conflict of interest, among other topics. I've also met different members of the program. I was able to gain some insight into their research and experiences.
 

After talking to Luisa and Cathy, I found that their research project interested me the most. I find microbiology interesting as well as the effects that small organisms can have on a macro level. So I decided to focus my research project with them. 

I even got started on helping them with gram staining. It was a tedious process. But it's a new skill that I've gained. I'm thankful for being in the STEM program and I look forward to learning a lot more in the following weeks.