Sierra College Department of Biological Sciences


Morphological Unknown Identification Assistance

Although determining the morphological characteristics of bacteria (cells and colonies) is a useful step in the identification process, students will find that gaining this information alone is insufficient for establishing the specific identity of microbial cultures. This Web-based laboratory activity is designed to provide additional information useful in the identification of unknown cultures. It will also introduce students to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), a public resource containing a wealth of useful information.

To complete this assignment, click on the NCBI link provided and access the NCBI Home Page (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Click on "Nucleotide" under "Popular Resources", and then type (or copy and paste) the accession number listed for your unknown into the "for" window. Hit return or click on the "go" button to access the required information.

Record the following information on your Morphological Unknown Report Form (Pg. 90):
1. The Database Accession number (at the top of the page, right hand side).
2. The technical name of your culture (Genus name and specific epithet).
3. The taxonomic lineage (listed just under the name), domain through species.
4. The name of the gene being investigated (recorded to the left of "Definition").
5. The name of the first author (recorded to the left of "Reference").
6. The country the author(s) is/are submitting from.

Morphological unknown web assisted identification:

Fall 2011

Unknown # Accession # Unknown # Accession #
1 AF214779 16 EF619399
2 DQ119337 17 GQ292756
3 AM410859.1 18 GU383586.1
4 AY876121 19 AY364316
5 GU339260 20 FJ409226
6 AB018715 21 AM237362
7 GQ411209.1 22 AY438619.1
8 DQ001159 23 JN585704.1
9 BK006794 24 M85120
10 AJ865379 25 AJ581991
11 E07193 26 AY167849
12 AM181587 27 HM122242.1
13 EF198139 28 EF065663
14 HQ825066.1 29 AY559429
15 AB014173 30 AB180236

NCBI Home Page


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