Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common bacterium that colonizes external mucous membranes in approximately one third of the population. S. aureus is also part of the natural skin flora, contributing to its abundance on commonly touched surfaces. In this series of laboratory experiments, students perform environmental swabs, plate and grow mixed bacterial cultures, perform clonal expansion of probable colonies, and then use colorimetric Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) as a final confirmation of the presence of S. aureus. Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) is a DNA amplification technique capable of providing visually interpretable color-based results within one hour using crude cell lysates. LAMP does not require a thermal cycler and performs optimally at a single temperature (60-65oC), requiring only a simple heating block or hot water bath. Learning objectives include isolating and culturing a target bacterial colony, bacterial lysis techniques, using LAMP to confirm the presence of a target organism.
Keywords: Loop-mediated isothermal amplification, Staphylococcus aureus, DNA amplification, Microbiology
University of California, San Diego (2023)
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