A new prokaryote is recovered from a remote saline hot spring. Design a set of experiments to determine whether the organism is thermophilic or thermoduric, halophilic or halotolerant

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The experimental design should include a control in which the organism is grown in the salt conditions and at the temperature it was recovered from. One set of samples should be cultured at the same salt concentration but varying the temperatures. Another set of samples should be cultured at the temperature of the hot spring but varying the salt concentration. One culture should be grown at the lowest temperature and salt concentration used in the two experimental sets. Bacterial growth is most reliably measured using the viable plate count method (assuming the organism can be grown on plates). Alternatively, bacterial numbers may be determined using a cell counter. An excellent answer will describe the organism which can be expected to grow under the various conditions (thermophilic halophile, thermophilic halotolerant, thermoduric halophile, and so forth).
Bloom's Taxonomy: Synthesis
Section: Growth Requirements
Learning Outcome: 6.6