Under the guidance of teachers, students from the College of Life Sciences of Lanzhou University used Petri dishes as canvases and microorganisms as "pigments" to complete exquisite works of art. Courtesy of Lanzhou University
Lanzhou, China, March 25 (Liang Fengzhi) The colorful "Orange Heart Dream Map", the delicate and vivid "School Celebration Map", the exquisite "Trees and Birds"... Under the guidance of their teachers, the students of the College of Life Sciences of Lanzhou University used petri dishes as canvases and microorganisms as "pigments" to complete a series of exquisite works of art - in fact, these brilliant colors and patterns are "grown" by microorganisms themselves.
Petri dishes with a diameter of 9 cm, potato glucose nutrient agar medium (PDA), inoculation loop after high temperature sterilization, strains in the logarithmic phase... With these materials ready, you can start drawing a "painting".
According to Zhang Qi, associate professor of the School of Life Sciences of Lanzhou University, the principle of microbial painting is actually the cultivation process of the strain, finding the right strain from the natural environment, according to their own different colors, using sterile operations and other ways to make the strain "grow" into a beautiful picture.
Strains suitable for use as "pigments" include a variety of colored bacteria, molds and yeasts, such as Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Micrococcus xanthophyllum, Saccharomyces saccharomyces, Penicillium, Aspergillus niger, etc.
How are these colorful microbial "pigments" obtained? Wang Yaojia, who has participated in the microbial painting competition many times, is a classmate of the school's 2018 biology class. She said that microbial "pigments" are mainly obtained from the environment, such as soil, water and air. Microbial acquisition of solids, liquids and gases varies. The dust, particles and bacteria in the air will settle, and the experimental plate is placed in the air environment, so that the microorganisms in the air settle on the plate, and after culture, the required "pigment" is obtained.
The picture shows a stunning painting that the microorganisms themselves "grow" out. Courtesy of Lanzhou University
Wang Yaojia said that the microbial "pigment" in the water is mainly obtained by coating, and after culture, a single colony is obtained, and then the required colonies are purified to obtain the "pigment". The "pigment" in the soil is obtained by isolating the culture, the diluted soil fungus suspension is coated on the plate, and the microbial "pigment" required for painting is obtained after incubation.
"There are particularly many species of bacteria and fungi in the environment that need to be purified to find out which strains are suitable for painting." Wang Yaojia said that this process is not simple, most of the strains in the environment are colorless and transparent, if you want to obtain brightly colored, colorful microbial "pigments", you need to constantly isolate and purify.
Wang Yaojia said that after obtaining colorful strains, you need to be confident before you can start painting. According to the microbial "pigment" on hand, it is carefully designed in combination with its color, and the design artwork is completed and the painting begins. Petri dish plates are translucent and can be traced from the bottom of the plate to transmit the design drawings.
In the process of painting, it is also necessary to take into account the inoculation order of various microorganisms "pigments", the culture temperature and time of fungi and bacteria are different, and it is necessary to constantly observe and explore, after the cultivation reaches a satisfactory degree, the "long" painting works are photographed, and the finished photo product obtained is the final microbial work painting.
A small Petri dish can hold the whole world. Some of the "soul painters" of the School of Biological Sciences can paint the beautiful scenery of the four seasons of the campus in spring, summer, autumn and winter, some can celebrate the school's birthday and bless the teachers by creating paintings, and some can express their love for the motherland and praise for the unsung heroes...
In last year's Seventh National Youth Science Popularization Innovation Experiment and Works Competition, Wang Yaojia and Liu Jiayuan's work "Spectrum of Heroes" won the second prize in the country. Using bacteria as ink and dishes into paper, they relied on sterile operations to vividly portray the unsung heroes of all walks of life who selflessly dedicated themselves to epidemic prevention and control.
"Through the microbial painting experiment, it can also cultivate the aesthetic education of students, improve their cognition of beauty and creative ability." Students can not only learn knowledge, become interested in microbiology, but also participate in deep scientific research, so that students have a strong sense of participation, if one of them is willing to devote themselves to scientific research, it is even more rewarding. Zhang Qi said. (End)