Bacterial Identification Lab Worksheet Student
Bacterial Identification Lab Worksheet Student
Bacterial Identification Lab Worksheet Student
2. What are the four basic steps involved in this bacterial identification lab?
Click to Enter the Lab. (Click the window on the left-hand side of the screen to enter the lab.) As you enter
the lab, follow the instructions in the lab (left-hand window). Using the information in the Notebook
window on the right, answer the following questions.
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Bacterial Identification Virtual Lab Student Handout
8. Why do you then need to inactivate the proteolytic enzymes and how do you do it?
9. After removing the enzymes, why do you spin the sample in the centrifuge?
12. Summarize the process of PCR in a diagram. Include all the steps, labeled and in the right order.
(If you are completing this handout online, draw the diagram on a piece of paper, take a photo,
save the image as a PDF, and upload it in the space below.)
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Bacterial Identification Virtual Lab Student Handout
21. What is present in the positive control tube that is not in the negative control tube?
Now run the PCR. Be sure to watch the virtual lab animation before proceeding to the questions.
22. List each step of a PCR cycle, the temperature, and the duration (time).
a.
b.
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Bacterial Identification Virtual Lab Student Handout
c.
23. Describe what happens during each of the steps in one or two sentences.
a.
b.
c.
24. After eight cycles, how many copies of the desired DNA have been synthesized?
28. If you were to run a gel, it would have three lanes. What would each lane contain, and what would
you see in each lane after running the gel?
a.
b.
c.
29. The gel is not run in this virtual lab. In order to purify the PCR product, you use a microconcentrator
column. (Proceed through the virtual lab steps.) What should the final collection tube contain?
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Bacterial Identification Virtual Lab Student Handout
32. The purpose of the second PCR is not to create identical copies like the first PCR you ran. What is the
purpose of this PCR?
33. Where do scientists obtain primers to be used in PCR and in this technique?
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Bacterial Identification Virtual Lab Student Handout
37. What is the purpose of the laser beam in determining a DNA sequence?
41. Whats a major assumption when drawing evolutionary relationships between organisms based on
DNA sequences?
Click to go back to Part 6 and click on "Learn more about BLAST search results."
42. Explain what the "Score (bits)" means on an actual BLAST search result.
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Bacterial Identification Virtual Lab Student Handout
Click to go back to Part 6 and proceed through the instructions in the right-hand notebook window.
Hints: "Ctrl A" will select all the data in the pop-up window, "Ctrl C" will copy it, and "Ctrl V" will
paste it into the NCBI website (large yellow box at the top of the BLAST search page).
Follow the steps listed on the page and be patient. BLAST data can take a while to search.
When the BLAST results appear, scroll down below the color key to the significant alignments,
and then go back to the virtual lab window (left) and follow the instructions.
After completing Sample A, perform DNA sequence analysis on three of the other five samples.
46. Write in the letter of the samples you choose, the scientific name of the bacterium (after doing a
BLAST search), and a brief description of each.
Sample Letter Bacteria Scientific Name Brief Description
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