I have a question regarding bacteria. I have isolated bacteria in a media with l

Question

I have a question regarding bacteria.

I have isolated bacteria in a media with little concentration of nutrient agar, and incubated them in 35C temperature.

When bacteria have grown I have noticed that they have produced pigmentation in the media.

So my question is; why were there pigmentation in the media, why would the bacteria produce it? I mean what is the concenpt behind spreading pigmentation? Is it just a color or there is something behind it? I do not get it.

P.S: I have collected these bacteria from desert ecosystem soils. The pigmentation were yellow colors and some were brown.

Explanation / Answer

Why would bacteria produce pigments? I mean what is the concept behind spreading pigmentation? Is it just a color or there is something behind it?

Firstly, it is not just the color. Yes, there is something behind the manufacture of pigments and that is specific to every bacteria that releases pigments. Pigments are useful for bacteria. They are associated with survival, protection, pathogenesis, cellular activities and morphological characteristics.

Bacteria produce pigments for various reasons:

Why were there pigmentation in the media?

For anyone of the above reasons the bacteria tend to produce pigments. Indicator medium such as that used by you help in identifying the pigments. As a rule, pigmentation is never observed in anaerobic bacteria because pigmentation requires oxygen. So, only aerobic and facultatively aerobic bacteria produce pigments. Since the pigment observed in your case is brown to yellow, it can be possible that the bacteria is Rhizobium Etli which is one of the many soil-living bacteria, one that gives yellow to brown pigmentation and is aerobic.

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