24.2: Introduction

Bacteria rarely arrive in pure culture, unless ordering them from a supply house. Most natural samples have a variety of bacteria in them. In order to identify bacteria using physiological tests, they need to be separated and cultured individually. In this round of unknowns, you will be given a mixed culture of bacteria that will contain 2-3 bacteria. Using pure culture methods, you will separate and subculture your isolates and then work to identify them. You will utilize all the observable characteristics of the isolates as was done in Unknown #1-stain characteristics, cell morphology, arrangement, size, culture characteristics, and physiological test results.

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