On day 9 we talked about how we could sequence the DNA we made on day 4, to identify what bacteria were present. Nowadays there are computer programmes where you insert a DNA sequence e.g. ACTGGACTAG… and it comes out with the closest matched options from its database. Another, more accurate method involves you figuring out the proteins the sequence makes and inserting that into the database to give you the results.
We also analysed more plates under the microscope as well as an agar dish that had fungus growing on it in all directions. For the agar dish we saw many long lines overlapping and twisted into one another. Whilst examining the plates we managed to identify organisms known as actinomyces which are commonly found in the soil.