Chapter 6, Problem 2CCS

Boils in the Locker Room

For several weeks, faculty, students, and staff at Rayburn High School have been dealing with an epidemic of unsightly, painful boils and skin infections. Over 40 athletes have been too sore to play sports, and 13 students have been hospitalized. Nurses take clinical samples of the drainage of the infections from hospitalized students, and medical laboratory scientists culture the samples. Isolated bacterial colonies are circular, convex, and golden. The bacterium is Gram-positive, mesophilic, and facultatively halophilic and can grow with or without oxygen. The cells are spherical and remain attached in clusters.

1. 1. What color are the Gram-stained cells?
2. 2. What does the term “facultatively halophilic” mean?
3. 3. What is the scientific description of the bacterium's oxygen requirement?
4. 4. If the bacterium divides every 30 minutes under laboratory conditions, how many cells would there be in a colony after 24 hours?