Re: Is there any way to identify bacteria without the use of special tools?

Normally there are three different types of colonies which will appear on petri dishes.

• Mold - these are usally fuzzy and may be of different colors, yeast - these are usally small and round and shinny, and bacteria - these are generally smaller than the other two but can grow (spread) large with time.
• Bacteria are divided into two main groups - Gram positive and Gram negative. Gram positive bacteria stain purple with Gram's Stain while Gram negative bacteria stain red. The Gram stain is named after Dr. Gram. Gram negative bacteria include members such as Salmonella, and Escherichia coli while Gram positive bacteria include members such as Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus subtilis.

It is not possible to indentify bacteria by just looking at the colony on a petri dish. However, experience and the use of both selective and differential media allows microbiologists to both detect and identify bacteria.

Write me back and I can send you some photograhs via E-mail of different kinds of bacteria