Bacteria and actinomycetes are found in every environment on Earth, but the abundance and diversity of these microbes in soil is unparalleled. Typically, actinomycetes are approximately 10% of the total bacterial population. This experiment uses glycerol case media that select for actinomycete colonies, during dilution and plating. Actinomycetes are actually bacteria, but they are frequently considered to be a unique group within the classification of bacteria because of their filamentous structure, which consists of multiple cells strung together to form hyphae. Within this prokaryotic group, there are the filamentous microbes known as actinomycetes. These conditions create an ideal ecosystem for bacteria, so all soils contain vast populations of bacteria, usually over 1 million per gram of soil.īacteria are the simplest of microorganisms, known as prokaryotes. Within and between the aggregates are voids or pores that visually contain both air and water. Surface soils are a heterogeneous mixture of inorganic and organic particles that combine together to form secondary aggregates. Charles Gerba - The University of Arizonaĭemonstrating Authors: Bradley Schmitz and Luisa Ikner

Started from the bottom sampled