Hello everybody,
My name is George Sartzis and I'm an
undergraduate student of Biology from the Department of Biological Applications
and Technology of the University of Ioannina.
I'm presenting my results from the
Winogradsky column experiment that was conducted in 23/10/2015 at Voidomatis
River.
I made one column from a 1.5 L plastic bottle
which by 1/3 contains mud from the riverside mixed with enrichment materials (1
chicken egg with its shell, 5g of baking powder and some newspaper pieces) and
by 2/3 pure riverside mud. After the column was filled to the mouth of the
bottle, the mud precipitated and a zone of water was created occupying 25% of
the column.
The bottle was put in conditions of medium
(to low) light intensity and temperatures of 10 to 15°C.
Today, 3 and a half months after the column
was made, outwardly, not much seem to have changed. The mud is a little bit
darker and the water became more blurred than the first day.
Although there were (and still are) too few
visual indications that "something was going on in there", 2 1/2 months
after the creation of the column, the cap of the bottle cracked due to the high
pressure of the inside of the bottle. A small quantity of water was spilled out
and a strong rotten egg smell arose. 2 days after that incident the spilled
water had evaporated leaving behind a red smudge on the floor.
I suppose that sulfur-reducing cells have
grown in the mud and they produce H2S. That's why the pressure of
the bottle was high before the bottle cap cracked. H2S production
also explains the rotten egg smell. As for the red smudge from the spilled
water I believe that microorganisms that existed in the water found the
conditions outside of the bottle more suitable to increase in numbers and predominate
against other species which were dominant in the inside of the bottle.
Furthermore, I think that probably the
conditions of the room where the bottle was put were not suitable for most of
the cells in the sample to grow and/or the riverside mud's microbial load was
quiet low. That's why there are, until now, too few changes in the visual
appearance of the column.
Unfortunately I currently have no photos of
my Winogradsky column to post. I will upload some photos as soon as possible.
I
will make a new post when something changes!
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