Small Things Considered

Strictly Intracellular Parasite No More

by Elio | We learn with mother's milk (or at least in a beginning micro­bio­logy course) that certain bacteria, notably rickettsiae, chlamydiae, and anaplasmas, cannot grow outside of host cells. Thus, they are de­fined as being strictly intracellular parasites. Ha! A member of the ric­kettsiae has now been found to grow freely outside of host cells. Read more →

Discovering a Novel Algal-Fungal Symbiosis and a Humanized Journal

by Elio | Lichens are said to occupy an astounding 6% of the surface of Earth’s land mass, so pay attention. As you are well aware, lichens arise by the symbiotic interaction of fungi and algae (or sometimes cyanobacteria). And as you know, they consist of separate individuals of the two partners, each benefiting from the interaction. Read more →

A Wormful of Bugs, Again...

by Christoph | When you've followed our posts on symbioses between ani­mals and bac­te­ria over the last two years or so, you could have ea­si­ly got the im­pres­sion that they oc­cur main­ly be­tween in­sects and Gamma­pro­teo­bac­te­ria from the or­der En­te­ro­bac­te­ra­les of this large and di­verse phy­lum. This im­pression would be skewed but only because our choice of topics was! Read more →

A Microbial Liver

by Elio
Best I can tell, the marine flatworms Paracatenula suggest a novel twist on symbiosis. Here, symbiotic bacteria do not just provide carbon compounds for their host but actually store them. And they do that also for energy... Read more →

Making Mycorrhrizae. A Snippet.

by Elio | Very high on the list of this world's vital sym­bio­ses are the my­cor­rhi­zae, the as­so­ci­a­tion of fun­gal fi­la­ments with plant root­lets. About 90% of all vas­cu­lar plants (from ferns on up) pos­sess them. They con­tri­bute great­ly to the health of the plants, being a ma­jor source of ni­tro­gen, salts, and water... Read more →

Who runs the world?

by Sumedha Ravishankar and Ian Robbins | Microbes facilitate untold biological processes, from digestion in the tiny gut of an insect to running our planet’s biogeochemical cycles. These microscopic beings truly are the quiet puppeteers of our lives. And it makes sense that they would be, since unicellular life has been on Earth for about 3.5 billion years, Read more →

The Complex Anatomy and Physiology of the Gut of Wood-feeding Beetles. A Snippet.

by Elio | The digestive system of animals can be wondrously complex. Think of our own, which consists of such diverse organs as the mouth, the esophagus, stomach, the small and large intestines, and the anus. Each one is responsible for a particular set of functions. Is such a division of labor also seen in "simpler" animals? This question was asked recently of wood-feeding beetles by a group of no less than 18 investigators from all over the US. Read more →

Of Terms in Biology: Trophosome

by Elio | A rather specific term, trophosome refers – as per the Wikipedia – to 'an organ found in some animals that houses symbiotic bacteria that provide food for their host.' Trophé (τροφή) denotes nourishment, soma (σῶμα), body, denoting that trophosomes are intimately involved in their host's nutrition. Read more →

Prokaryotic Pointillism: When a Sea Sponge Endosymbiont Paints the Bigger Picture

by Janie
A while ago, I read a piece from Catapult Magazine that mused about the strangeness of eating fish. The article asked, why do we so willingly eat creatures that come from a place so poorly understood? Read more →

Fungomania 3. Farming and Alcohol

by Elio
Alcohol and farming do not often go together, unless you think of beetles. In certain species, ethanol is used to increase the fruit of their labor, which sounds good but requires an explanation. Read more →