In Your Microbiology Lab, Your Class Is Identifying Bacteria

Multiple Choice

In your microbiology lab, your class is identifying bacteria.You are using dichotomous keys to aid in the identification process using the data from a variety of biochemical tests.What problems do you foresee in this procedure?

A) Dichotomous keys are not valid for identification.
B) If you misread a biochemical test or write down the wrong result, the key will likely take you to an alternative organism that is not your unknown bacterium.
C) Dichotomous keys are too sophisticated to read properly, so you are worried that there will be a large degree of error in your identification.
D) The dichotomous key does not contain information on your bacterium.