Small Things Considered

A blog for sharing appreciation of the width and depth of microbes and microbial activities on this planet.

Small Things Considered
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Welcome to Small Things Considered (STC)! In this blog we share our excitement about unexpected and unusual stories of the microbial world. The "About" page describes who we are. But we do not just publish our own writing. We very much enjoy posting contributions from students, postdocs, and others. Don't think that we do this to avoid work, we spend a lot of time editing the material we receive. Do send us your comments, criticisms, submissions, ideas, or whatever else comes to you mind; we are very eager to hear from you. See the "Contact" tab for directions on how to reach us. Thank you for visiting and, before you go, consider taking a moment to "Subscribe."
  • A Most Useful Light Switch
  • Zombie Ants and the Evolution of Mind Control
  • CRISPR-Based Metabarcoding
  • Lost & Found #6
  • Pseudouridine Stabilizes tRNA
  • Evolution of Ant-Fungus Farming
  • Living Construction Materials
  • Cultivating the Ancestors (4|4)
  • Of Aerobes and Anaerobes

A Most Useful Light Switch

Noteworthy — Phytoplankton, photosynthetic microbes that inhabit surface ocean waters, form the base of marine food webs. These keystone microbes are the oceans' primary producers. Importantly, their ability to carry out photosynthesis depends on their ability to make chlorophyll. Read more →

Posted on May 22, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Ecology, Noteworthy | Permalink | Comments (0)

Zombie Ants and the Evolution of Mind Control

by Clio Morata de Jong and Nico Morales — In the realm of natural mind control, few phenomena are as gripping – literally – as the death grip of the parasitic fungus in the genus Ophiocordyceps. This fungus doesn't just kill its carpenter ant hosts; it transforms them into instruments of fungal propagation. Read more →

Posted on May 19, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Ecology, Evolution | Permalink | Comments (0)

CRISPR-Based Metabarcoding

Noteworthy — Microbes are abundant and very diverse. But acknowledging their significance in our biosphere has taken time and relied on curiosity, hard work, and the development of technologies to access, identify, and study microbial communities. Read more →

Posted on May 15, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Ecology, Noteworthy | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lost & Found #6

by Christoph — In this episode, again three bookmarks that came to my attention while cleaning up our account on 𝕏 (formerly Twitter) and that are not at all out of date. Give them a brief look and judge for yourself. Here is Lost & Found #6. Read more →

Posted on May 12, 2025 at 02:55 AM in Odds & Ends | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pseudouridine Stabilizes tRNA

Noteworthy — The modified nucleoside pseudouridine has many reasons to be considered a star among post-transcriptional RNA modifications. It was the first to be identified, in 1960. Incorporating it into mRNA vaccines was a big reason for their success. And it also shows up in numerous antibiotics. Now there's more. Read more →

Posted on May 08, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Noteworthy, Physiology & Genetics | Permalink | Comments (0)

Evolution of Ant-Fungus Farming

by Mechas — Agriculture has triggered enormous changes in human society. But it is not unique to humans. Read more →

Posted on May 05, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Ecology, Evolution, Fungi, Symbioses | Permalink | Comments (0)

Living Construction Materials

Noteworthy — The production of cement – used as a binder in concrete – has a high carbon footprint, accounting for 5%–8% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. The search for alternative materials with reduced impact on global warming has come up with some interesting options. Read more →

Posted on May 01, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Noteworthy, Odds & Ends | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cultivating the Ancestors (4|4)

by Christoph — Having one or two 'Asgard' archaea under the microscope – after having cultivated them with great effort and even more patience – and looking them in the face is exciting, but a bit unsatisfying if they are cousins. Are they mavericks or rather typical for "Lokis"? Here are the portraits of two more distant re­la­tives, both also cousins: Margulisarchaeum peptidophila HC1 and Flexarchae­um multipro­tru­sionis SC1. Read more →

Posted on April 28, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Evolution, Physiology & Genetics, Symbioses | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of Aerobes and Anaerobes

Noteworthy — When first introduced to microbes, we quickly learn to divide them into aerobes and anaerobes. Then we qualify those titles with modifiers to yield such classes as facultative anaerobes, obligate aerobes and strict anaerobes. Read more →

Posted on April 24, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Ecology, Evolution, Noteworthy, Physiology & Genetics, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cultivating the Ancestors (3|4)

by Christoph — There was joy, even excitement among archaeologists when the first images of Promethearchaeum syntrophicum MK‑D1 made the rounds. This sense of joy deepend still when images of its cousin Lokiarchaeon ossiferum Loki-B35 were added a little later. The ancestors suddenly got their own faces, literally, and were no longer only vaguely recognizable from genome sequences! Read more →

Posted on April 21, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Evolution, Physiology & Genetics, Symbioses | Permalink | Comments (0)

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