Monday, August 16, 2021

460 - Prokaryote Publicity Prevents Protist Processes

Emiliania huxleyi
By Alison R. Taylor
UNC Wilmington Microscopy
PLoS Biology, June 2011 Cover
CC BY 2.5
This episode: A bacterial communication signal makes algae stop growing, which helps them survive virus attacks!

Download Episode (5.3 MB, 7.7 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Veillonella parvula

Takeaways
Many interesting interactions between microbes take place in the ocean. As single-celled organisms lacking complex sensory organs, many such interactions and communications are mediated by chemical signals. Some bacteria, for example, each produce small amounts of certain chemicals and release them into the environment. When the concentration of the chemical signal builds up to a certain point, the bacteria change their behavior to take advantage of their high numbers that must be present to produce so much of the signal. This process is called quorum sensing.

Some of these chemical signals can affect the behavior of organisms other than bacteria also. In this study, a common marine algal species was found to stop growing in response to a certain bacterial signal. This chemical inhibits an enzyme required for the algae to produce nucleotides to replicate their genomes. As a result, the algae are able to resist destruction by a virus that would otherwise decimate their populations.

Journal Paper:
Pollara SB, Becker JW, Nunn BL, Boiteau R, Repeta D, Mudge MC, Downing G, Chase D, Harvey EL, Whalen KE. 2021. Bacterial Quorum-Sensing Signal Arrests Phytoplankton Cell Division and Impacts Virus-Induced Mortality. mSphere 6:e00009-21.

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Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

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Monday, August 2, 2021

459 - Prokaryotes Provide Polyp Perserverance

Coral
By Brocken Inaglory
CC BY-SA 4.0
This episode: Transplanting microbes from some corals to others could help the corals survive high temperatures!

Download Episode (5.7 MB, 8.3 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Streptomyces olivaceoviridis

News item

Takeaways
The ever-rising temperatures of our modern world are putting more and more stress on various ecosystems. This is true even on the ocean floor: record-high temperatures damage reefs by causing coral bleaching, in which corals lose their photosynthetic endosymbionts. If conditions do not improve, these corals eventually die.

Corals have microbial symbionts other than the phototrophs, also. We know from ourselves and from plants that microbes can have big effects on their hosts, so it seemed worth testing whether symbionts from more heat-resistant corals could transfer heat resistance to more vulnerable individuals. Recipients of this treatment did show enhanced heat resistance, but the microbial community composition did not always change after the treatment.

Journal Paper:
Doering T, Wall M, Putchim L, Rattanawongwan T, Schroeder R, Hentschel U, Roik A. 2021. Towards enhancing coral heat tolerance: a “microbiome transplantation” treatment using inoculations of homogenized coral tissues. Microbiome 9:102.

Other interesting stories:

Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS. Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show at Twitter or Facebook.