Ma. Mikaela S.

Ilaw December 14, 2018

BSN 1-7 Mr. Villa

Cultural Characteristic of Microorganism

When a single bacterial cell is deposited on a solid or liquid medium, it begins to divide.

One (1)-cell produces two, two (2) produces four, four (4) produces eight and so on. Eventually, a

colony appears where the original organism was. When grown on a variety of media,

microorganisms will exhibit visible differences in their appearance in their isolated colonies and

their growth. These differences are called cultural characteristic or morphology. Moreover, the

cultural characteristics or morphology may be used as an aid in identifying and classifying some

organism.

These physical characteristics are often specific for the type of bacteria making the colony

and can be used as a mean of recognition. On the other hand, the appearance of colonial growth

on agar media can be very distinctive for individual species. Some microorganism have

characteristic growth patterns but they aid in the identification of species only if they are

distinctive. Although some bacteria grow in distinctive patterns, others looks alike.

The cultural characteristic or morphology are determined by culturing microorganisms in

nutrient broth and on nutrient agar plates and slants. However it would only observed through

the use if incubation. Based on the study, after the incubating process of nutrient broth, the results

exhibits a particularly form of growth. In liquid media, some bacteria grow diffusely causing a

uniform clouding of the media or turbidity, while others look granular. Layering the growth or

accumulation of cells at the top, center, or bottom of the broth tells something about the

microorganism’s oxygen requirement. Sometime bacterial aggregations are formed and the

bacterial growth appears as a small puffballs floating in the broth. On the other hand, in a solid
media the appearance, forms and characteristic of bacterial colony creates many categories. This

includes: colony form (shape), margin (edge), elevation, pigmentation (color), texture, and pattern

of growth. Frist, the colony shape may be described as circular, regular or tiny. Second, the margin

may be entire (smooth with no irregularities), undulate (wavy), lobate (lobe), filamentous or

rhizoid (branched like roots). Third, the colony elevation includes flat, raised, convex, and raised

in the center. Fourth, the colony structure may be moist, mucoid or dry. Fifth, the pigment

production may be influenced by environmental factors such as temperature and nutrient supply.

Last, the colony color may be combined with optical properties such as opaque, translucent, shiny

or dull.

There are five terms used for the growth in nutrient broth. (1) Uniform fine turbidity, a

finely dispersed growth throughout (cloudy), (2) Flocculent, a flaxy aggregates dispersed

throughout, (3) Pellicle, a thick, padlike growth on the surface, (4) Sediment, a concentration of

growth at the bottom of broth culture may be granular, flaxy, or flocculent, and (5) Ring formation,

a ring of growth in the surface. While for the growth of nutrient slants, four terms where used. (1)

Abundance of growth, the amount of growth designated as none, slight, moderate or large, (2)

Pigmentation, the chromogenic bacteria may produce intracellular pigments that are responsible

for the color of the colonies on the agar surface. Other bacteria produce extracellular soluble

pigments that are excreted into the medium and that produce a color. Most microorganisms are

nonchromogenic and they will appear cream, white or gray, (3) Optical characteristic, are the

characteristic that are based on the amount of light transmitted through the growth. It may be

opaque (no light transmitted), translucent (partial transmission), or transparent (full transmission)

and (4) Form, the appearance of the single line streak of growth on the agar slant. It may be filiform
(continuous threadlike growth with smooth edges), echinulate (continuous threadlike growth with

irregular edges), beaded (non-confluent to semi-confluent colonies), effuse (thin, spreading

growth), arborescent (tree-like growth) and rhizoid (root-like growth). On the other hand, the

growth of nutrient agar plate used six terms. (1) Size, it may be pinpoint, small, moderate or large,

(2) Pigmentation, the color of colony, (3) Optical properties, it may be opaque, translucent, shiny

or dull, (4) Forms, the shape of colony. It may be circular, irregular, rhizoid, tiny, and filamentous

or spindle, (5) Margin, the appearance of the outer edge of the colony. It may be entire, lobate,

undulate, serrate, curled, rhizoid or filamentous, and (6) Elevation, the degree to which the colony

growth is raised. It may be flat, raised, convex or umbonate.

 Cultural Characteristic of Bacteria

References:
Cultural Characteristic of Microorganism
 https://www.hccfl.edu/media/568168/8-exercise%20v.pdf