Small Things Considered

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

Small Things Considered
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Heavy-duty Traffic, Microscale

by Christoph  
Men­tion "fla­gel­la" and we mi­cro­bio­lo­gists in­stant­ly think of these in­gen­ious ap­pe­nda­ges that bac­te­ri­al cells use to pro­pel them­selves through fluids of va­ry­ing vis­co­si­ties (ar­chaea do this, too, with their ar­cha­el­la). We ra­re­ly think of them as an ac­ces­sory to trans­port car­go. Yes "car­go," you read cor­rect­ly, but may­be you re­mem­ber... Read more →

Posted on July 18, 2022 at 01:30 AM in Methodology, Physiology & Genetics, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pictures Considered #57: Coloring a Cell

by Christoph  
Our ability to visual­ly per­ceive and dis­cri­mi­nate is al­ways sligh­ly over­whelmed by black-and-white ima­ges. Es­pe­cial­ly, of course, when the ob­jects de­pict­ed are out­side our trained, fa­mil­iar size spec­trum, such as bac­te­ri­al cells and their in­nards. Take for ex­ample Fi­gure 1, the cryo-ET image of a ti­ny... Read more →

Posted on May 19, 2022 at 01:30 AM in Pictures Considered, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

Diazomania I ─ A Bird's-Eye View of the Nitrogen Cycle

by Roberto  
Here's a good way to get friends or re­la­tiv­es in­ter­est­ed in mi­cro­bio­lo­gy – if they aren't al­ready. Tell them to take a deep breath and to let it out. Then ask them these ques­tions: "Mostly, what went into your lungs?", and "What hap­pened to it while in your lungs?" Re­gard­less of... Read more →

Posted on February 21, 2022 at 01:30 AM in Ecology, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

When it's too cold to grow

by Roberto  
I began thinking about the cold weather in Bos­ton while I swam in an open wa­ter com­pe­ti­tion off the coast of Car­ta­ge­na de In­dias in Co­lom­bia's Carib­bean coast last week­end. Then my thoughts drift­ed to bac­te­ria swim­ming in col­der and col­der wa­ters. And then the ques­tion: ... Read more →

Posted on February 17, 2022 at 01:30 AM in Odds & Ends, Physiology & Genetics, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

Grant's Anatomy

by Christoph  
At an EMBO workshop in Copen­ha­gen in 2006 on 'Cell cycle and cy­to­ske­le­tal ele­ments in bac­te­ria,' I was al­most un­able to stay put in my seat dur­ing one pre­sen­ta­tion: Grant Jen­sen showed the 3D-mon­tage of cryoET ima­ges of mag­ne­to­somes in Mag­ne­to­spi­ril­lum mag­ne­to­tac­ti­cum. It was a vi­su­al jour­ney in­to and through the in­ter­ior of a cell,... Read more →

Posted on December 09, 2021 at 01:30 AM in Methodology, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pictures Considered #55: Conjugation, and some pairing issues

by Christoph  
If you've ever taken a class on bac­te­ri­al ge­ne­tics, ei­ther re­cent­ly or in the last few de­ca­des, you've no doubt seen this image: the con­ju­ga­tion of two bac­te­ri­al cells (Figure 1). And if you found this image so self-ex­pla­na­to­ry that you didn't both­er to ask for the source, you're not alone. The in­ter­net is re­plete with it, in vary­ing... Read more →

Posted on November 15, 2021 at 01:30 AM in Pictures Considered, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Most Lively Virus – and an Addendum

by Merry (†) and the STC team  
Mor­pho­lo­gi­cal­ly speak­ing, the vi­rus­es of me­so­phi­lic and mo­de­ra­te­ly ther­mo­phi­lic bac­te­ria and ar­chaea are a dull bunch. Of 5,100 surveyed, 97% are ho-hum head-and-tail phages − icosahedral heads with helical tails... Read more →

Posted on November 08, 2021 at 01:30 AM in Teachers Corner, Viruses | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Dual-Function Small RNA

by Christoph  
We cele­brate the 60th an­ni­ver­sa­ry of the Lac oper­on this year and what bou­quet − et bien sûr un coup de cham­pagne − would be more ap­pro­pri­ate than to take a look at how post-tran­script­ion­al gene re­gu­la­tion com­ple­ments and ex­tends clas­si­cal tran­script­ion­al gene re­gu­la­tion? I'm talk­ing of small RNAs (sRNAs) and their role... Read more →

Posted on October 18, 2021 at 01:30 AM in Physiology & Genetics, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of Terms in Biology: Diazotroph

by Roberto  
It all started with my want­ing to write a post on Fran­kia. I did what I al­ways do when think­ing of a new post. I googled 'small things considered frankia'. Nothing. Good start, I can dive in­to the topic. Next, I thought let's put Frankia in the con­text of prior posts. I googled 'small things considered rhizobium'. Nothing again... Read more →

Posted on October 07, 2021 at 01:30 AM in Physiology & Genetics, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

Replay: On Teaching

by Stanley Falkow  
A graduate student came to my office recently to say that she was increasingly bothered by anxiety and the ‘terror’ of having to speak at laboratory meetings. She had also learned a month ago that she was expected to lecture to a class organized by her mentor. The thought of… Read more →

Posted on September 13, 2021 at 01:00 AM in Odds & Ends, Teachers Corner | Permalink | Comments (0)

« Previous | Next »
STC Logo
    Small Things Considered Links  
    About  
    Contact  
    Subscribe  
    FAQ  
    Archives  
    Elio's Memoirs  
    In Memoriam  
    Our Books  


    Social Media Links  
    Instagram  
    Twitter  
    Mastodon 


    ASM Links  
    American Society for Microbiology  
    About ASM  
    ASM Publications  
    Join ASM  
    This Week in Microbiology (TWiM)


    ©2023 Small Things Considered   Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and State Disclosures