SEM of filter paper degradation...

Control for this experiment, culture medium without D1 bacteria, Hence, the degradation of this filter paper is mechanical.

This is the bacterial culture, filter paper already degraded into pieces, Both pictures taken at the same time, incubated at 30C, 180 rpm around 4 days or till degradation observed.

This is one of my experiment in my final year project, isolation and sceening for cellulolytic bacteria...Filter paper is made from alpha-cellulose, hence, cellulolytic can survived with cellulose/filter paper without any other carbon source in my culture broth...

Here are some results, imaging by scanning electron microscope in E.M unit USM...

Ny tissue culture staining method, HMDS...

This is the filter paper surface without bacterial enzymatic degradation, set as my control...With 50X magnification

 

This is the filter paper surface after enzymatic degradation, filter paper becoming strips, all the linkages have been broken down, is like Maggi Mee...With 50X magnification

This is degraded part in the filter paper, with 500X magnification, I will zoom in the middle right strip in the next picture

This is the 5000X magnification, bacteria can be seen on the strips, especially the left part, the right part seen smooth from the surface, but how about the inside?

The whole pic showing thousand of bacteria 'chewing' on the filter paper and make it become sponge-like materials...with 2500X magnification

5000X magnification showing a pic with clearer view of the bacteria and 

the way of attacking cellulose

In this experiment, We focus on 2 topic, that is the effect of the enzyme produced by cellulolytic bacteria, cellulase on the filter paper structure and surface areas. This can be showed by the 50X magnification picture, control is the one with whole linked cellulose surface while Filter paper infested with D1 showing a maggi mee like structure, all the linkage were broken down...

2nd key is the way of attacking cellulose by bacteria D1, from the picture, Dr. Razip and me suspect that they are attacking from the inside out, hence, the surface of the filter paper is smooth and non-degraded, however, further investigation should be done to know what and why happen...