After ‘successfully’ identifying my unknown as a spore I ran
the MSA and glucose fermentation tests, and at Josh's behest ran a motility
test as well. Results (drum roll):
MSA, negative
Glucose Fermentation, negative
Gas Production, positive
Motility…negative
Looks like three out of four tests agree, and with that we
have ourselves a winner: Bacillus Cereus…or, so it should have been had my
initial test been correctly verified as gram positive instead of, as I had
presumed, gram negative. Pseudomonas Aeruginosa is the correct perpetrator
after all, and funny enough, all of the tests and results would have had the
same finality aside from that first hiccup. So after a long and insightful
initial foray into the world of biology, and more specifically unknown testing,
I can in the least say biology is fun and communal, two thumbs up. Now it’s
time to move headlong into the greater part of this semester’s project: aquaponics,
or as Josh hopes, a salsa factory for his impending war on the burritos. On a side note, riddle me this: what is the difference between motility and mobility?