Small Things Considered

Even More Antibiotics In The Nursery!

by Christoph | We had learned earlier that Philanthus triangulum  beewolves – solitary digger wasps that prey on bees, hence their name – employ a "cocktail" of nine different antibiotics to protect their offspring from detrimental fungal infections. The antibiotics are produced – I repeat from the earlier post – by a bacterial symbiont, 'Candidatus Streptomyces philanthi', which the... Read more →

Fungomania II. The Humongousest Fungus

by Elio | We dealt with a monster fossil fungus before. In the interest of expediency, let me reprint part of what I said: "Several museums pos­sess specimens of a cylindrical organism named Prototaxites  whose tree-like trunks measure up to 8 meters long by 1 meter wide. Protota­xites  dated from approximately 420 to 350 million... Read more →

Fungomania I. The Yeast and the Bee.

by Elio | Fungomania returns… In keeping with what we did a year ago, we offer three consecutive fungal posts. I have earlier professed sharing with many a fascination for symbioses (see here). I still don’t know why this is, perhaps it’s simply because multiple genomes interacting are more exciting than one. Read more →

The Nuclear Option

by Christoph | When considering "Who ate whom?", you're likely to think of the eukaryotes. They gobble up just about everything by pha­gocytosis, a common property of unicellular protists and cells of more complex multicellular eukaryotes such as us humans (macrophages, for example ). And whether it's microplastics, mineral fibers like asbes­tos, organic debris or living... Read more →

A Bacterial Aphrodisiac

by Elio | Sex is kindled by many factors, not all anticipated. Here is an unexpected one: bacteria make an aphrodisiac. But hold on, we know that bacteria engage in untold interactions with eukaryotes whose environment they share, so this should not be surprising. Fact is, the default mode of microbial existence is social, so why not sex? Read more →

Fine Reading: Unearthing the Roots ofEctomycorrhizal Symbioses

by Elio | This is a primer on the mycorrhizae, the association of plant roots and fungi. An outstanding review article on this subject has recently appeared, authored by four Frenchmen and one American: F. Martin, A. Kohler, C. Murat, C. Veneault-Fourrey, and D. S. Hibbett. I found reading it both exciting and illuminating, and a good way to conclude this »Fungomania« series. Read more →

Sex and the Single Pillbug

by Elio | You may not think of sex as having a microbial basis, but it does. That is true for many invertebrates that are colonized by the endosymbiotic bacterium Wolbachia. Members of this genus are pro­bably the most common obligate intracellular bacteria on Earth and, for reasons discussed below, among the most remarkable ones. They infect half or more of all insects, as well as isopods (crustaceans), spi­ders, and even worms. In some of their hosts, they influence how sex is determined, making sex itself a sexually-transmitted affair. Read more →

Squids and Luminous Bacteria. A Tale of Twists and Turns

by Elio | Bacteria are masters at making multiple uses of their com­po­nents. Thus, their constituents can serve a variety of dissimilar func­tions. An example is the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of the Gram negative cell outer membrane. This uniquely bacterial constituent is important stabilizing the structure of the membrane. In addition, LPS protects... Read more →

A Symbiotic Issue

by Elio | The August 2016 issue of Environmental Microbiology is a treasure trove of articles on symbiotic relationships. I happen to have a soft spot for the subject (am I symbiotic with symbioses?), so this issue is a handsome gift. I will comment on just a few of the articles, chosen with some effort from all this wealth. Read more →

Picky Sticks

by Christoph Weigel | As we know from our herbivorous mammalian relatives, the ruminants, you need to host certain microbes in your guts to subsist on plant polysaccharides other than starch – think salad or grass. Such 'non-starch' polysaccharides include cellulose, pectin, and a few others – together, they are commonly known as 'fibers'. Fibers are, for the most part, indigestible... Read more →