How Does E. Coli Grow In Succinate

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E. Coli Growth in Succinate Versus Glucose Introduction All forms of life need a source of energy. This source of energy is carbon. (Manual.) Microscopic organisms are no exception to this rule. Organisms such as bacteria reproduce through binary fission, a process where the organism or cell grows and splits to produce two new daughter cells. In order for cells to grow and reproduce they must have an adequate supply of nutrients. Cells such as E. Coli can acquire nutrients through glycolysis or fermentation. Glycolysis is the more efficient process as it produces more energy “ATP” than fermentation. Glycolysis is more efficient because there are more bonds and more energy stored within the bonds than there are succinate. Succinate can be …show more content…

Coli. Each culture was grown in an M9 medium. One culture utilized glucose as a carbon source, while the other utilized succinate as a carbon source. Two other treatments of E. Coli were also tested, one without succinate and one without glucose. These two treatments were added as a baseline to compare how much succinate and how much glucose actually helped the E. coli grow. The two treatments were covered with parafilm and for the purposes of this experiment, will be called blanks. These cultures remained within their assigned group all day to measure the growth of E. Coli. The following process was repeated by all groups throughout the day. A cuvette was labeled with the sample that was being tested. The writing was at the top of the cuvette to prevent light from being disturbed and affecting results. 3 mL of the tested sample were placed in a flask using a sterilized 1 mL pipet. The spectrophotometer was then rezeroed with the corresponding blank inside. This was so that only growth would be measured. After recording measurements the flasks were returned to the incubator and the pipets were disposed of in a red biohazard bag. The contents of the cuvette were poured into 50% bleach to kill any E. coli. The cuvette was rinsed with distilled water. This process was repeated every 30 minutes over the course of eight and a half hours. Measurements at 12:00, 12:30, and 15:30 were missed due

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