Research Question:

…………To find out how the presence of bacteriophages in the soil around red or white oak trees has a correlation with the health condition of oak trees.

Rationale:

A Plaque Assay helps us determine if there is the presence of bacteriophages by adding Arthrobacter directly to the lysate. We can tell the existence of bacteriophages by checking the presence of plaques on the agar plate. To obtain more data to conduct the research, Group 5 went out to collect more soil samples.

Experimental Procedure for Plaque Assay for Soil A & Collecting of

Soil Sample 9.5.18 :

1. Analysis of the plaque Assay results for Soil sample A (in incubator for  7 days)

2. Soil Collecting for Sample 9.5.18 at the North Village garden area near a fountain

Observations, Results & Data:

1.Plaque Assay Results:

From the Plaque Assay for Soil A, the plate shows no traces of plaques, which concludes that there are no signs of arthrobacterphages in Soil A.

2. Soil Sample 9.5.18 descriptions:

Tree Type: Burr Oak

Tree Width: 61 cm

Tree Average Canopy Length: 225.5 cm

Tree Description: Leaves are 90% green with slight discoloration on them occurring in the patterns of plaques, no dead branches of any kind were found.

Soil Description: Soil was dark, the color of grayish with tints of bronze, very moist almost to the texture of clay. The soil was in fact covered with rocks of decoration purposes and a rug-like layer.

Interpretations & Conclusions:

Presuming that the Plaque Assay for Soil A was a controlled test without other unwanted factors affecting the results, the soil sample Soil A does not contain any arthrobacterphages of any kinds, so in order for the research to progress, obtaining new samples for testing is required.

Since the question for the research has been more or less anchored, the objective for group 5 is to collect soil samples from white oaks around the north village since the question is  “To find out how the presence of bacteriophages in the soil around red or white oak trees has a correlation with the health condition of oak trees.” Due to the reports of fire in the near past in north village, the group made the assumption of the ecosystem in the soil around the area may yield intriguing results, which led to the sample Soil 9.5.18 being collected in the north village premises.

Next Step:

I will be doing Soil Washing for Soil Sample 9.5.18 in the next lab.