The sample was isolated from human ear of a 21-year-old female grown via Nutrient agar.

The
culture was incubated at 37°C for 240 hours and five distinct colonies were observed after
incubation.
The Colony 1 (C1) form is irregular in shape with a moderate size of about 3 mm in diameter.
The color is white, margin is undulate, and elevation is slightly convex. The texture of the
colony is smooth, opacity is opaque, and it has a shiny, moist surface appearance. Based on the
colonial characteristics, the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is an Anthrobacter
sp. It is because bacteria from genus Anthrobacter have whitish-grayish, slightly convex, of
creamy texture colonies and they are also part of the ears’ normal flora (Mages et. al., 2008;
Dahal, 2022).
The Colony 2 (C2) form is circular with a moderate size of about 3 mm in diameter. The color is
bright yellow, margin is entire, and elevation is slightly convex. The texture of the colony is
smooth, opacity is opaque, and it has a shiny, moist surface appearance. Based on the colonial
characteristics, the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is a Micrococcus sp. It is
because colony morphology of this species in nutrient agar shows circular, smooth, entire, and
usually yellow colonies (Micrococcus-bacteria genus, n.d.). Micrococci are usually non-
pathogenic and are normal inhabitants of the human ear (Dahal, 2022).
The Colony 3 (C3) form is irregular with a large size that is about 6 mm in diameter. The color
is white, margin is undulate, and elevation is flat. The texture of the colony is rough, opacity is
translucent, and it has a dull, surface appearance. Based on the colonial characteristics, the
suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is Bacillus subtilis. According to Lu et al.,
(2018), B. subtilis when cultured on ordinary nutrient agar showed a rough, opaque, fuzzy white
or slightly yellow with slightly curvy edges colony. The same can be seen in this colony.
Bacillus spp. are among the list of normal flora of the ears (Dahal, 2022).
The Colony 4 (C4) form is circular with a large size that is about 4-5 mm in diameter. The color
is light to golden yellow, margin is entire, and elevation is slightly convex. The texture of the
colony is smooth, opacity is opaque, and it has a shiny, surface appearance. Based on the
colonial characteristics, the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is Staphylococcus
aureus. It is because colonies of this species matched the descriptions from several references
about S. aureus colony morphology (Fattah, n.d.). Species from genus Staphylococcus are also
part of the list of normal ear flora (Dahal, 2022).
The Colony 5 (C5) form is circular with a moderate size that is about 2-3 mm in diameter. The
color is cream, margin is entire, and elevation is convex. The texture of the colony is smooth,
opacity is opaque, and it has a shiny, mucoid surface appearance. Based on the colonial
characteristics, the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is Staphylococcus
saprophyticus. According to Sapkota (2022), this species shows circular, cream-colored to white
colonies with 1-2 mm diameter and an entire margin, which fits the one seen in this laboratory
activity. Moreover, these bacteria are also part of the normal flora of humans as mentioned
above.

C1 C2

C3
C4

C5

C5
C7
 C6

The sample was isolated from staircase swab cultured via Nutrient agar. The culture was
incubated at 37°C for 240 hours and five distinct colonies were observed after incubation.
The Colony 1 (C1) form is circular with a moderate size of about 3 mm in diameter. The color is
bright yellow, margin is entire, and elevation is convex. The texture of the colony is smooth,
opacity is opaque, and it has a smooth, mucoid surface appearance. Based on the colonial
characteristics, the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is Staphylococcus aureus. It
is because Staphylococcus aureus also contain these characteristics. Moreover, these bacteria are
known to stay on surfaces such as elevators and staircase handrails (Mulongo et al., 2021).
The Colony 2 (C2) form is irregular having a large size of about 4-5 mm in diameter. The color
is orange to dark red, margin is undulate, and elevation is raised. The texture of the colony is
rough, opacity is opaque, and it has a dull surface appearance. Based on the colonial
characteristics, the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
According to Sykes (2014), P. aeruginosa can have smooth or rough colonies (atypical) and can
produce variety of pigments like pyocyanin (blue) and pyorubin (orange-dark red) when grown
in culture. Additionally, these bacteria are mostly isolated from high-touch surfaces. Considering
the source of the inoculum (stairs handrails), the possibility of it being a P. aeruginosa is then
worth noting.
The Colony 3 (C3) form is circular with small sizes that is about 1-2 mm in diameter. The color
is white, margin is entire, and elevation is raised. The texture of the colony is smooth, opacity
is translucent, and it has a shiny surface appearance. Based on the colonial characteristics, the
suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is Staphylococcus epidermidis. According to
Aryal (2022), S. epidermidis are circular, cream-colored to white colonies that are mostly 1mm
in diameter with an entire margin. The colonies have raised elevation and a dense center with
transparent borders. A dense center with transparent borders can also be observed for this
isolated colony. Moreover, S. epidermidis is one of the major skin flora in the hands which is
why it can be suspected to be isolated from stairs since handrails are also one of the high-touch
surfaces.
The Colony 4 (C4) form is punctiform with very small sizes that is about <1 mm in diameter.
The color is white, margin is entire, and elevation is convex. The texture of the colony is
smooth, opacity is opaque, and it has a glistening, mucoid surface appearance. Based on the
colonial characteristics, the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is
The Colony 5 (C5) form is circular with small to moderate sizes that is about 2-3 mm in
diameter. The color is light yellow, margin is entire, and elevation is convex. The texture of the
colony is smooth, opacity is opaque, and it has a glistening, mucoid surface appearance. Based
on the colonial characteristics, the suspected bacteria are also Staphylococcus aureus since these
bacteria can also produce a light-yellow color when cultured and are characterized by these
descriptions.
The Colony 6 (C6) form is filamentous with a large size of about 6-7 mm in diameter. The color
is white, margin is filamentous, and elevation is slightly raised. The texture of the colony is
rough, opacity is opaque, and it has a dull surface appearance. Based on the colonial
characteristics, the suspected microbe isolated is a Candida sp. Candida sp. are among the germs
listed which are able to live on dry surfaces. They also have a creamy white and dry colony
morphology. Moreover, hyphae-developing fungal colonies are huge also having filamentous
margins (CDC, 2022; How to distinguish bacteria and fungi, n.d.).
The Colony 7 (C7) form is circular with a large size of about 5-6 mm in diameter. The color is
cream, margin is serrate, and elevation is slightly raised. The texture of the colony is smooth,
opacity is opaque, and it has a shiny surface appearance. Based on the colonial characteristics,
the suspected bacteria that form this type of colony is

References
Aryal, S. (2022, July 9). Staphylococcus epidermidis- an overview. Microbe Notes; Sagar Aryal.
https://microbenotes.com/staphylococcus-epidermidis/

CDC. (2022, March 11). Germs live in the environment. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/projectfirstline/healthcare/germs-
environment.html
Dahal, P. (2022, May 17). Eye and ear Microbiota (microbiome)- normal flora of eye & ear.
Microbe Notes; Sagar Aryal. https://microbenotes.com/normal-flora-eyes-ears/

Fattah, S. (n.d.). Staphylococcus aureus. Slideshare.net. Retrieved December 12, 2022, from

https://www.slideshare.net/HiwrHastear/staphylococcus-aureus-58473113

How to distinguish bacteria and fungi: From morphology to sequencing - CD genomics. (n.d.).
Cd-genomics.com. Retrieved December 13, 2022, from
https://www.cd-genomics.com/microbioseq/how-to-distinguish-bacteria-and-fungi-from-
morphology-to-sequencing.html

LU Z, GUO W, LIU C. 2018. Isolation, identification and characterization of novel Bacillus

subtilis. Journal of Veterinary Medical Science. 80(3):427–433. doi:10.1292/jvms.16-0572.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5880821/.

Mages, I. S., Frodl, R., Bernard, K. A., & Funke, G. (2008). Identities of Arthrobacter spp. and
Arthrobacter-like bacteria encountered in human clinical specimens. Journal of Clinical
Microbiology, 46(9), 2980–2986. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00658-08

Micrococcus - bacteria genus - microbiology dictionary. (n.d.). Hardydiagnostics.com. Retrieved

December 12, 2022, from
https://catalog.hardydiagnostics.com/cp_prod/Content/hugo/Micrococcus.htm

Sapkota, A. (2022, June 30). Staphylococcus saprophyticus- an overview. Microbe Notes; Sagar

Aryal. https://microbenotes.com/staphylococcus-saprophyticus/

Sykes, J. E. (2014). Gram-negative bacterial infections. In J. E. Sykes (Ed.), Canine and Feline

Infectious Diseases (pp. 355–363). Elsevier.