PRACTICAL 3:

DIVERSITY OF MICROORGANISMS IN POND WATER

OABILE MASALILA
18000880

GROUP 5
INTRODUCTION
Microorganisms are those small living organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye and
exist as single celled organisms or in a colony of cells. Diversity refers to any dimension that
can be used to differentiate organisms from each other therefore microbial diversity refers to
the vast arry of microorganisms. Microorganisms include all unicellular orgamisms and from
the three domains of life all of the archaea and bacteria are microorganisms and most
importantly this microorganisms are extremely diverse.

Sadava et al. (2014) states that microorganisms reproduce asexually or sexually there fore
algae tend to have those characteristics also. Algae reproduce asexually through binary
fission and vegetative propagation while sexual reproduction occurs through conjugation.
Algae as one the microorganisms play a vital role to the environment in which they live in.
They mostly serve as food as they are able to make their own food due to the presence of
chloroplasts in them and they also act as shelter to other microorganisms near them.
AIMS
 To investigate the types of microorganisms found in a sample of water obtained from a pond
ecosystem.
 To find out the functions or roles of the microorganisms in the pond water with respect to
their physical structures.

HYPOTHESIS
The type of microorganisms found in pond water is the Algae and it is divided into divisions that
include the likes of Pyrophyta, Chrysophyta, Euglenophyta and Chlorophyta(green algae). Processes
like photosynthesis and respiration occur in the ponds due to the presence of the algae because
majority of algae has chlorophyll which is responsible for photosynthesis and the mitochondria
which is responsible for respiration. This suggests that algae are autotrophs i.e they make their own
food which in turns means that some other organisms in the pond ecosystem feed on the algae.

METHOD
Few drops of water were collected from the bottom of a water sample of pond water using an eye
an eye dropper, from there a single drop of the water was placed at the center of a microscope slide
and the slide was covered with a cover slip in such a way that the water droplet spreads evenly and
there are no air bubbles trapped. After covering was done the slide was observed under a microsope
and the organisms were identified by using the picture ID sheet. Finally the microorganisms
observed were drawn on a sheet of paper and the magnification was also calculated and the
microorganisms were described using qualitative(adjectives) and quantitative(measurements and
counts) terms.
RESULTS
CHARACTERISTICS
DIVERSITY BIOLOGICAL DRAWING QUALITATIVE QUANTITATIVE
Euglena It is green, has a Three of them
rod-like shape were found.
and keeps
changing its
shape. It has a red
dot and it keeps
moving around.

Chlamydomonas It is round in It has two flagellas

shape and it has a and three of them
red dot in the were found.
middle.

Closterium It has a thin like Four of them were

rod structure and discovered.
it is green in
colour

Chlorella It is circular and Seven of them

very small. Its were viewed under
contents keep on the microscope.
changing but its
circular shape is
maintained.
DISCUSSIONS
The results showed the different types of microorganisms in the pond and the
microorganisms that were discoverd are Chlamydomonas, Euglena, Closterium and chlorella.
Chlamydomonas was one of the microorganisms viewed or observed under the microscope.
According to Wheir, Sheath and Koeiolek(2015) the Chlamydomonas is an oval unicellular
organism with a thin cell wall made of glycoprotein and non cellulosic polysaccharides and
has a diameter of 10-30micro meter and has chloroplast which means that its able to make its
own food from sunlight through the process of photosynthesis therefore Chlamydomonas are
regarded to as photoautotrophs. The Chlamydomonas have an eye spot which helps them
more towards the sunlight. It also two flagella which aids in motion or moving through as the
ones viewed under the microscope. According to John P. Davies and Arthur R.
Grossman(2002) this organism has been particularly useful for dissecting photosynthesis
because it can grow heterotrophically as well as photoautotrophically; this has allowed for the
isolation and characterization of a large number of mutants that are completely devoid of
photosynthetic CO2 fixation.
The other microorganism observed under the microscope was the Euglena. According to
Sadava et al. (2010) euglena are characterized by an elongated cell with one nucleus,
numerous chlorophyll-containing chloroplasts (cell organelles that are the site of
photosynthesis), a contractile vacuole (organelle that regulates the cytoplasm), an eyespot,
and one or two flagella. Certain species (e.g., E. rubra) appear red in sunlight because they
contain a large amount of carotenoid pigments. Unlike plant cells, Euglena lacks a
rigid cellulose wall and has a flexible pellicle (envelope) that allows them to change shape.
Though they are photosynthetic, most species can also feed heterotrophically (on other
organisms) and absorb food directly through the cell surface via phagocytosis (in which the
cell membrane entraps food particles in a vacuole for digestion). Food is often stored as a
specialized complex carbohydrate known as paramylon, which enables the organisms to
survive in low-light conditions. Euglena reproduce asexually by means of longitudinal cell
division, in which they divide down their length, and several species produce dormant cysts
that can withstand drying.
From the pond water sample the other microscopic organism that was observed is the
Closterium. According to BR Vashishta, S.Chand(1995) the Closterium consists of an
elongated or cylindrical cell being broadest in the middle and tapering towards the ends, with
the cells having straight, spindle, fusiform or lunate shapes. The cells have two halves or
semicells joined at the middle(isthmus region). The cells contain two chloroplasts located one
in each semicell and the nucleus is located in the isthmus region with a clear polar vacuole at
both tips of each cell. Due to the presence of the chloroplasts in the microorganism it is able
to use energy from the sun and make its own food and for other microorganisms in the pond
where it is mostly found.
In addition to the above mentioned microorganisms the Chlorella was also an observed
microorganism found in the pond water sample. The name “chlorella” was derived from the
Latin words ‘chlor’ for green and ‘ella’ for small. C.Cafi et al.(2014) stated that Chlorella is a
unicellular microalgae that grows in fresh water and it is spherical microscopic cell with 2–
10 micrometer diameter and has many structural elements similar to plants this includes having
the cell wall which protects its internal substances, the cytoplasm the mitochondrion(site of
respiration) and most importantly it has a single chloroplast with a double enveloping
composed of phospholipids. The presence of the chloroplasts suggests that Chlorella
photosynthesise that is to say it makes its own food using energy from the sun. They also
state that Chlorella is a non motile reproductive microorganism that reproduces asexually and
rapidly. Apart from chlorella photosynthesizing it can by humans as medicine as it prevents
cancer and also it can stimulate the immune system and people can use it as a supplement.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion the results attained are agreeing with the aim of the experiment which was to
determine the types of microorganisms found in pond water. It was found out that pond water
harbours the following types of microorganisms Chlorella, Euglena, Chlamydomonas and
Closterium. The results of the experiment also agrees with the second aim of the experiment
which was to determine the functions or roles of the microorganisms as it was found that all
the microorganisms are autotrophs due to the presence of chlorophyll in them which means
that they are very crucial for the growth of others organisms in their surroundings as they
provide them with food for survival.
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BR Vashishta and S. Chand., 1995. Botany for Degree Students
Carl Safi, Bachar Zebib, Othmane Merah, Pierre-Yves Pontalier and Carlos Vaca-Garcia., 2014
Renewable and Sustainable Energy reviews 35, pp265-278.
John P. Davies and Arthur R. Grossman., 1998 The Use of Chlamydomonas(CHLOROPHYTA:
VOLVOCALES) AS A MODEL ALGAL SYSTEM FOR GENOME STUDIES AND THE ELUCIDATION
OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC PROCESS. pp907-917.
Sadava D, Hills D, Craig H, May B, 2014 9th edition . Life The Science of Biology, USA,
Macmillan.
Wehr J.D., Sheath R.G and Kociolek J.P., 2015. Fresh Water Algae. 4 th edition. USA Ecology
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