Laboratory Exercises in Microbiology: 2026 Release

Part One- Microscopic Techniques
1. Bright-Field Light Microscopy and Microscopic Measurement of Organisms
2. The Hanging Drop Slide and Bacterial Motility
3. Dark-Field Light Microscopy
4. Phase-Contrast Microscopy
Part Two- Bacterial Cell Biology
5. Aseptic Technique
6. Negative Staining
7. Simple Staining
8. Gram Stain
9. Acid-Fast Staining Procedure
10. Endospore Staining
11. Capsule Staining
12. Flagella Staining
Part Three- Basic Culture Techniques
13. Preparation of Microbiology Media and Equipment
14. The Spread-Plate Technique
15. The Streak-Plate Technique
16. The Pour-Plate Technique
17. Cultivation of Anaerobic Bacteria
18. Determination of Bacterial Numbers
Part Four- Microbial Biochemistry
19. Carbohydrates I: Fermentation and -Galactosidase Activity
20. Carbohydrates II: Triple Sugar Iron Agar Test
21. Carbohydrates III: Starch Hydrolysis
22. Lipid Hydrolysis
23. Proteins I: The IMViC Tests
24. Proteins II: Gelatin and Casein Hydrolysis
25. Proteins III: Catalase Activity
26. Proteins IV: Oxidase Test
27. Proteins V: Urease Activity
28. Proteins VI: Lysine and Ornithine Decarboxylase Tests
29. Proteins VII: Phenylalanine Deamination
30. Proteins VIII: Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction
Part Five- Environmental Factors A?ecting Growth of Microorganisms
31. Temperature
32. pH
33. Osmotic Pressure
34. The E?ects of Chemical Agents on Bacteria I: Disinfectants and Other Antimicrobial Products
35. The E?ects of Chemical Agents on Bacteria II: Antibiotics
36. Bacterial Growth Curve
Part Six- Environmental and Food Microbiology
37. Monitoring Water for Coliforms
38. Enumeration of Soil Microorganisms
39. Winogradsky Columns
40. Bioluminescence
41. Plate Counts and Quality Assessment of Milk
Part Seven- Medical Microbiology
42. Staphylococci
43. Pneumococcus
44. Streptococci
45. Neisseriae
46. Normal Human Flora
Part Eight- Eukaryotic Microbiology
47. Fungi I: Yeasts (Ascomycota)
48. Fungi II: Zygomycota (Rhizopus), Ascomycota, (Penicillium), and Basidiomycota (Agaricus)

The Izquierdo lab is a majors level manual that accompanies the Willey-Prescott's Microbiology textbook. This laboratory manual provides a balanced introduction to laboratory techniques and principles that are important in each area of microbiology.

Experiments follow the spirit of the ASM guidelines for laboratory content. Each experiment comes with a complete set of pedagogical aids- materials per group of students, learning objectives, pronunciation guide- so students understand the "how" and "why" of the labs in which they participate.