Question

An outbreak of food poisoning occurs at a family picnic after the growth of Staphylococcus aureus in refrigerated potato salad left sitting in the hot sun for several hours. What would microscopic examination of the potato salad reveal

Answer 1

Answer:

clusters of round shape bacteria

Explanation:

Microscopic examination of the potato salad should reveal clusters of round shape bacterium.

Staphylococcus or Staphylococcal are those that are round in shape (from the word 'coccus') and occur in clusters as opposed to individually or in chains. The word is derived from two Greek words - staphyle which means bunch of grapes and kokkos which means to be round.

Hence, when a magnified image of the Staphylococcus aureus is produced by the microscope, clusters of round shape bacteria would be seen.