Hello everybody. It has been a long week but it's almost over. Just a small piece of information; it seems like we will be enjoying a cloudy weekend, at least according to the weather.com. This week I finally got my Yeast Mannitol Agar (YMA). I was so happy because like I previously said, it was ordered before spring break. Now I have been able to make my eight different combinations of media and I'll be ready to start testing next week. Fun little detail; the lab just got the YMA sample that Matt ordered before spring break. I'm still not sure what happened with the YMA from the first lab equipment company, why it took so long, but now I have extra YMA so I can make as much media as I need.
Now that I have finished pouring all of my plates this week I can work on a little side project this Friday. I'll be working with Josh and we'll both figure out how to prepare a bacteria for -80 degrees Celsius storage. I thought it would be just as easy as to put the bacteria into the freezer but this can damage the bacteria if not done properly. Luckily I was able to find quite a few protocols that are quite easy to follow. I did have to be careful about which ones I could refer to since some require the bacteria to be snap-frozen before putting it in the freezer. That kind of protocol asks for liquid nitrogen, dried ice or dry ice/ethanol slurry. Since the lab doesn't have access to any of those I'll be using another method. For future references here is a Protocol that I found at Ops Diagnostics, a lab equipment company.
First one needs to prepare a solution of 30% glycerol, 30ml glycerol plus 70ml water. Then transfer the solution to a screw cap glass bottle and autoclave at 121 degrees Celsius for 15 minuts.
Obtain 500 microliters of sterile 30% glycerol into two sterile microfuge tubes that contain 4 mm glass beads.
Add 500 microliters of the bacteria culture to the tube and mix with glycerol using a vortex mixer.
Label and place it in the freezer.
I hope everyone has a good weekend. I'll let you all know if this protocol works or if I decided to do another one. "Live long and Prosper."
