I was given an unknown bacterium and was instructed to use many methods to figure out what my bacterial species was. I learned to spread plates and keep my species alive for two months throughout this procedure. I used a Gram stain to discover it was gram negative. I tried several different types of sugars to find out how it metabolized.
I did motility experiments to see how it preferred to move within the plates. Lastly, I was able to use gel electrophoresis for DNA bands and 16S rRNA sequencing for a definite identification.
This poster is a collection of my methods and results. In the end, my bacterium was Rhizobium vitis, a grape root gall that causes disease in grape plants and has significant ramifications in agriculture.