Winogradsky column lab page!


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Welcome to the Winogradsky column lab page! Students from the Departments of Biological Applications and Technology, University of Ioannina and Icthyology and Aquatic Environment, University of Thessaly, Greece and the Microbiology course, Faculty of Sciences, University of Cádiz, Spain, discuss their findings on Winogradsky columns they constructed!

If you want to add a post, please feel free to contact the blog administrators (Hera Karayanni, Sokratis Papaspyrou or Kostas Kormas)!



Καλωσορίσατε στη σελίδα των Winobloggers! Διαδικτυακός τόπος συνάντησης φοιτητών, φοιτητριών και διδασκόντων δύο Τμημάτων από την Ελλάδα: Tμήμα Βιολογικών Εφαρμογών και Τεχνολογιών, Παν/μιο Ιωαννίνων και Τμήμα Γεωπονίας, Ιχθυολογίας και Υδάτινου Περιβάλλοντος, Παν/μιο Θεσσαλίας και ενός από την Ισπανία: Σχολή Θετικών Επιστημών, Πανεπιστήμιο του Cadiz. Παρακολουθούμε, σχολιάζουμε, ρωτάμε, απαντάμε σχετικά με τα πειράματά μας, τις στήλες Winogradsky!


Bienvenidos a la pagina web de los Winobloggers! Aquí los estudiantes y profesores de dos departamentos griegos, el Departamento de Aplicaciones y Tecnologías Biológicas de la Universidad de Ioannina y el Departmento de Agricultura, Ictiología y Sistemas Acuáticos de la Universidad de Thessalia, junto con los estudiantes de Microbiología de la Facultad de Ciencias en la Universidad de Cádiz, se reúnen para observar, comentar, preguntar y responder a preguntas relacionadas con nuestro experimento, la columna Winogradsky.


Winogradksy columns

Winogradksy columns
'In the field of observation, chance only favors the prepared mind' Pasteur 1854

Blog posts

Friday 14 February 2020

Winogradsky Column Experiment

Winogradsky Column Experiment 
Winogradsky Column Experiment is a simple way of cultivating diverse microorganisms and study how they interact with each other.

Nutrients: Lentils as source of Ferrum
                  Two Eggs as source of Sulfur
                  Sugar as source of Carbon
Sampling Procedure: On October 16th we went to the Kalodiki marsh (Photo 1) in order to collect mud and water and each student had to create at least one Winogradsky column. Bottles of 1.5lt volume were used as columns. The two-thirds of my column were filled with mud mixed with nutrients and the other one-third was filled with water. Firstly, I collected the mud and mixed it with all nutrients. Then, I filled with the enriched mud the two-thirds of my bottle and added the water which originated from the same marshland. The bottle was covered with a black plastic bag and was left to the hydrobiology lab to incubate in room temperature.

Hypothesis: The Ferrum would help the Photosynthetic microorganisms to grow but the black plastic bag would be an obstacle in this precdure. So I supposed that finally I would't see the green photosynthetic bacteria in the top of my column.

Complications: In October 18th I went to relieve the gas pressure in my bottle but it exploded . I suppose that the reason of this explosion was the production of large amounts of gases and especially of Ηydrogen Sulfide from the sulfur bacteria.

Due to this incident, I decided to create a new colum:
The two-thirds of the new column were filled with mud from the University campus and the rest was filled with water from the eutrophic lake of Ioannina, Pamvotis. The first one-third was filled with mud mixed with one egg as source of sulfur and shredded paper as source of carbon, the second one-third had mud without any nutrient and the last one-third had was filled with lake water. The bottle was left to incubate in the lab at room temperature.

Results: After almost two months of incubation, in the end of the semester I did not notice any sign of growth in my new column(Photo 2). These results, compared to the ones of my fellow students that used mud from the marshland, may indicate that the mud from the University campus was not so rich in microorganisms as the one collected from Kalodiki wetland. 
          
Photo 1: The Kalodiki marsh                          Photo 2: The new column after
                                                                          two months of incubation



2 comments:

  1. Any other gaseous products that could contribute to the... undesired explosion? Do you believe that growth was faster in your column compared to the columns of other students?

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    1. I suppose that also methane and carbon dioxide could contribute to the explosion. The column was filled with too many nutrients and the microorganisms grow fast, so they may had favorable conditions to grow in maximum growth rate, even if I cannot be sure about it.

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