How Do You Identify Bacteria In Soil?
Soil is full of bacteria. Most bacteria found in soil is harmless or even helpful. For instance, many bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use for nutritional purposes, called ammonium nitrogen. This process is called nitrogen fixing. According to soilhealth.com, the most prominent type of bacteria found in soil belongs to the rhizobia class. These bacteria, which are nitrogen fixers, can be identified by their rate of growth when placed on an artificial food source such as a yeast extract. Before identifying bacteria, you will need to prepare a yeast extract. Find a clover, soybean or other legume plant that has root nodules. Collect a sample of this plant. Pluck nodules off the plant root with tweezers. Immerse the nodules in a flask containing 5 ml of clean water. Shake the flask. Fill another flask with 5 m of clean water and repeat Step 3. Repeat this step twice more. Crush the nodules between two microscope slides. Add a drop of water. Place the crush
