Documenting Discoveries of Diversity
A Search for Novel Microbes

Introduction
The goal of this website is to provide information to facilitate publication of novel bacterial species by other Microbiologists, particularly those who work with undergraduate students.

At Lycoming College, we typically do our initial screen of microbes from local creeks as unknowns in the Bio321W Microbiology course as outlined on the "Course Approach" page. However, on occasion, our research lab will survey the microbes from one or more samples as described in the "Research Approach". The main difference is that in the Microbiology course, we start with phenotypic analysis, develop a hypothesis using Bergey's Manual, then use MIDI-FAME, Biolog Gen III plates and 16S rRNA sequencing to make a definitive identification. In the research approach, we do an initial screen by 16S rRNA sequencing to identify novel species candidates and taxonomic diversity in the sample, without necessarily analyzing the phenotypes of the organisms.

Acknowledgements

This project has been supported by the National Science Foundation Award # DBI-0960114: MRI-R2: Acquisition of Instrumentation for Novel Microbe Characterization by Undergraduate Researchers.