Bacteria in meat left overnight - microscope

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Got some kangaroo mince for the cat from the pet store. Comes in a frozen block. The cat absolutely loves it! Me being a vegetarian I have trouble handling the stuff.

So I thought I'd see what was in it at the micro level. As soon as it was thawed I did a microscope slide to see if there was anything interesting in it. Couldn't see anything moving that night so left it overnight to "culture". Came back next morning to find many happy little bacteria running around playing and having fun. I wonder if the amount of bacteria is similar in human grade mince?

Here's a video of the bacteria in motion. It's a type of Bacillus bacteria as it's a rod. It's also very motile. Best viewed in HD. Pentax K-x via a microscope adapter and Omax microscope, 40x objective in Phase Contrast. With the 2x camera adapter the magnification is probably around 800x.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dwoI6LYlJw

[chiaroscuro (Luke)]

Escherischia Coli???
I know a few years ago, Russia banned Kangaroo meat imports because of high E Coli counts (i.e. faecal contamination -errrrgh!)

Like you, I'd love to know whether you'd see the same with other mince - or sausages. You know thats why butchers are always smiling- because they know what goes in the sausages.

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Don't forget this was cultured overnight at room temperature say around the high 20's. There had to be bacteria in the sample to start with, but not at the numbers we see 12 hours later.

I think it highlights the importance of not leaving meat out for any length of time and to cook the blazes out of it.

[astronobob (Bob)]

I find it pretty facinating stuff Kevin, lot of action on your slide, good show !
pretty clear resolution for 800x .. I had a microscope when about 8y old, got a better one a few yrs later with an illuminater & upto 600x mag which enabled seeing the clear donut shape of a red blood cell. also found a rare 'slipper microbe' in some stagnant pond water, my teacher was quite excited about it ?
Anyway, what facinates me is, when look out into the universe, astro, space just gets bigger & bigger and does Not stop, tho, on the other hand, looking in a microscope, even high powered electron microscope that can literally magnify millions of times, things just get smaller & smaller and it also does Not stop ! ! Mind boggling really
Nice show Kevin

[cometcatcher (Kevin)]

Thanks Bob. Yes outer space and inner space are both quite remarkable. I find it fascinating that we are made up of a collection of other living micro organisms.

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

Those strings or chains look like Cocci- ie, Strep or Staph.
could be Staph from hand contamination I.e Staph epidermidis.
E.coli is a flagylated rod shape that could be there also.
A very interesting picture, more so I only yesterday I defrosted some mince to cook up a chilli!
cheers for sharing!
graz