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. 96):
1. The Database Accession number (near 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:

Spring 2014

Unknown # Accession # Unknown # Accession #
1 JN585704.1 16 GU339260
2 E07193 17 BK006794
3 GQ411209.1 18 AB018715
4 AY167849 19 AY364316
5 AF214779 20 GU142920.1
6 HQ825066.1 21 AJ581991
7 DQ001159 22 EF065663
8 AJ865379 23 GU383586.1
9 FJ409226 24 AM237362
10 HM122242.1 25 GQ292756
11 AM181587 26 AB014173
12 EF198139 27 DQ119337
13 AM410859.1 28 AY299092.1
14 M85120 29 NR_025475.1
15 AY876121 30 AY438619.1

NCBI Home Page


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