Diversity Of Culturable Bacteria On Natural Vs Artifical Fabrics

Abstract

Bacterial sampling of clothing worn by a class of undergraduate microbiology students was performed over the course of one month. Microorganisms were cultured on nutrient agar, visually distinct colonies were subcultured, and subcultured colonies were tested for alpha haemolyic properties. Significant differences were found between the number of visually differentiable types of colony forming units on natural and artificial textiles, with mean diversity of cfus on artificial textiles exceeding those on natural by a factor of 2.3. Significant differences in the number of organisms capable of alpha haemolysis were also noted, with mean levels of such organisms on artificial textiles exceeding those on natural by a factor of 3.7.