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

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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)

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)

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)

Cultivating the Ancestors… (2|4)

by Christoph — Based on their knowledge of the morphology of P. syntrophicum MK-D1 from electron micro­scopy and their knowledge of its physiology from growth assays and genome analysis, Imachi, Nobu et al. (2020) propose a hypothetical model, the E3 model, of how the first evolution­ary steps towards eukaryogenesis might have occurred in an ancestral archaeon living ~2 billion years ago. Read more →

Posted on April 14, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Evolution, Physiology & Genetics, Symbioses | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cultivating the Ancestors… (1|4)

by Christoph — ...is a metaphysical affair across all human cultures. For experimental biologists, it is the more prosaic, physical task of cultivating extant prokaryotic relatives of the an­cestors of the eukaryotes in the lab. Or the 'most likely' ancestors of the eukaryotes, to be cautious when leaping back ~2 billion years in time. Now, meet the archaeon Promethearchaeum syntrophicum MK-D1, and its syntrophic companions. Read more →

Posted on April 07, 2025 at 02:59 AM in Evolution, Physiology & Genetics, Symbioses | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ancient Peptides to Combat Pathogens

Noteworthy — While many of our interactions with microbes are essential for our health, microbes are also well-known causes of diseases, such as the bubonic plague, that have decimated populations. We are, therefore, fortunate to count on antimicrobial drugs to eliminate harmful pathogens. Read more →

Posted on February 27, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Evolution, Noteworthy | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bdellovibrio–Prey Interactions

Noteworthy — The environmental bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is unique in its capacity to prey and feed on other bacteria. This predatory behavior involves attaching and entering prey cells to consume and grow on cytoplasmic macromolecules, eventually lysing the host. But how do these bacterial predators recognize and invade their prey? Read more →

Posted on February 06, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Ecology, Evolution, Noteworthy | Permalink | Comments (0)

Defining Life with Aristotle

by Chelsi Cassilly and Eric Bodlak — What is life? Initially, it seems like a simple question. The immediate response is often to compare and contrast the many things we encounter daily that are animate and inanimate. Yet this question becomes harder the longer you sit with it. Because life on this planet – that is, life as we know it – includes microbial life... Read more →

Posted on February 03, 2025 at 01:30 AM in Evolution, Odds & Ends | Permalink | Comments (0)

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