Question

. You have the following codes for a few organism. 45561, 00001, 64140, 21402, 36121

Based on the code mention (10). Please note the points are for your explanation on how you got the information from the code

a)Which ones utilize urea

b)Which ones ferment Adonitol

c)Which ones ferment Lactose

d)Which ones ferment Sorbitol

e)Which ones belong to the family Enterobacteriaceae?

Answer 1

Those are the results of an EnteroPluri test. Such test is a single tube-like structure with 15 wells that are bound in groups of 3, thus we have 5 groups (the five numbers). Each well is a biochemical test, for example, lactose fermentation, H2S production, etc. Each group is divided in 3, the first test will have a value of 4 if positive and 0 if negative, the second well has a value of 2 if positive and 0 if negative and the last one a value of 1 if positive and 0 if negative. Let's analyze and example to check how this is interpreted:

The first group has 3 wells, they test for glucose, gas and lysine. If the bacteria ferments glucose, produces gas and decarboxylates lysine, then the results are positive for every test, that is 4+2+1 = 7, we will have a seven for the first number. But if the strain only ferments glucose, then it means the number will be only 4. 0 will come if each one of the 3 tests for the group result negative.

To answer this you need to have in hand a EnteroPluri test guide image.

Now, let's analyse our requirements:

a)Which ones utilize urea

Urease test is the second test in the fifth group, that means we need the fifth number to either be a 2, a 3, 6 or a 7.

Answer: 21402

b)Which ones ferment Adonitol

Adonitol is the first test in the third group, that means we need the third number to be either 4, 6, 7, or 5

Answer: Both 45561 and 21402

c)Which ones ferment Lactose

Located as the second test in the third group. Look for a 2, 3, 6 or 7 in the third position.

Answer: None of them

d)Which ones ferment Sorbitol

Located as the first test in the fourth group. Look for a 4, 6, 5 or 7 in the fourth position.

Answer: Both 45561 and 64140

e)Which ones belong to the family Enterobacteriaceae?

Enterobacteriace are bacteria that test positive for catalase, oxidase negative and glucose positive. But only glucose is included in the EnteroPluri test. Glucose is located in the first positions of the first group, so let's look for a 4, 6, 7 or 5 in the first position.

Answer: Both 45561 and 64140 may be Enterobacteriaceae