| This program is designed to assist in the identification of unknown bacteria by comparing physical characteristics and the results of common selective media and biochemical tests. The intended audience is students in an introductory microbiology course. |
| To begin, enter all the information that you have collected for your unknown bacterium. Help is available to assist with interpreting more complex test results. |
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| Once the test results have been entered, you may select options for the match process, including several algorithms, filtering by match percent, and displaying with or without color highlighting for quick recognition. |
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| Matches are presented ranked by percentage match and the number of comparison factors that were available for each bacterium. |
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| Detailed match results are available for each bacterium. See at a glace which characteristics match and which do not. You can print your results and take them back to the lab to perform additional tests to better refine your results. |
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| Pouring through reference books is time consuming and error-prone. Color-highlighted reports make it quick and easy to compare results for numerous bacteria. Let the computer narrow down the possibilities so that you spend less time examining dead-ends and more time on the most likely matches. |
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| While students are welcome to use this program from microbiology101.com, there are advantages to downloading the program and running it on your own webserver. On your own server, you gain the following administrator features. |
| Enable or disable whichever bacteria you choose. By enabling only the bacteria that are available as unknowns, you make it easier for students to get the correct match. For a greater challenge, enable more bacteria. |
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| Edit the existing bacteria profiles. Do you disagree with the default criteria? Do you use a particular strain that varies in a predictable way from the reference profile? No problem; just edit the bacteria profile and your students will get a more accurate match. |
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| Add new bacteria profiles. If you use unknowns that are not currently available, just enter the appropriate data from your reference of choice and then enable the new bacteria profile. You are also welcome to add new bacteria to the on-line version at microbiology101.com, so that all users can benefit from your efforts. Adding new bacteria to the on-line site requires a user name and password. Please contact me for more information. |
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