Krona chart of the isolate taken from the report.
Look into what may be on the surface of Boa constrictor. This isolation was conducted in order to look into the possibility of more reptile friendly bacterial inhibition methods on an industrial scale.
To learn more about this paper, click here
This is my sculpture of a microbiome that completes the entire carbon cycle. The title of my piece is «Biome in a Bottle » The biological concept I was going for was the completion of the carbon cycle. The carbon cycle is how one of our most important elements, carbon, is transferred throughout our environment between different reservoirs via processes. On example of a reservoir and process would be animals respirating (process) CO2 in the atmosphere (reservoir). Plants carbon fix (process) this carbon into oxygen which is released back into the atmospheric reservoir of gas. In order to integrate the complete carbon cycle in my Biome in a Bottle, I added multiple elements that acted as a miniature version of the natural reservoirs and processes that occur in our world’s carbon cycle. My sculpture is made of three 1-liter soda bottles; in the bottom there is water with fish and an aquatic plant. The aquatic plant creates enough oxygen to support the system through photosynthesis. The heat of the sun causes water to evaporate, funneling into the top biome via the net-filtered opening. This water and carbon is able to be absorbed by the soil in the top biome. The top biome contains a layer of rocks, followed by soil and dead plant matter. Inside this area, a slice of potato and crickets was added. The potato and dead plant matter would feed the cricket while the water from the basement biome moistened the soil. The soil would then respirate the absorbed carbon.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328150745.htm
I created a bacteriophage using my microbe. This was done on a MAC agar plate which is differential. The microbe I used was Enterobacter aerogenes. I used the same bacteria for the entire plate, making my bacteriophage first, and then following it up with some strands of RNA surrounding the virus.
How a Fungus can Cripple your Immune System
February 8, 2019
Source: Science Daily: Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190208095614.htm
Summary:
In this article the scientists conduct a study about how the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is able to turn off an enzyme that is used by immune cells to communicate between each other. Healthy individuals are not very affected by the fungus, but it is dangerous to individuals who are immune difficient, such as individuals who suffer from AIDs.
Connection:
This does connect to when we were explaining what makes a microorganism. We discussed that fungi are covered under microorganisms, but we haven’t touched on fungus too much. This is a special adaptation specific to this type of microorganisms.
Critical Analysis:
I found this article very interesting in the fact that we often tell people that breathing in a certain fungus can “take years off your life’ and this fungus actually can. I learned to the extent that fungus can actually do this, I think people often assume that the air they breathe is healthy as long as it looks and smells pure, but this fungus has spores that can float through the air and be completely undetectable. I did not realize how potentially dangerous fungi can be, and it kind of opens your eyes to how vigilant people who have immune difficiencies have to be about their health.
Question:
How can we protect people who have immune defficiencies from these type of problems?
Sebaldella termitidis is a bacteria named after the woman who discovered it, Madeleine Sebald. Sebald was a French biologist who discovered the bacteria in the intestines of termites in 1966. The word termitidis relates to bacteria found within the gut or intestines of termites. Madeleine Sebald has 22 different works and is part of 66 publications in four different languages. Her most recent publication was in 2016. Sebald isolated the bacteria as well as aided in sequencing its entire genome. She proceeded to published a paper in both French and English about the discovery. Sebald reported that the bacterium can degrade uric acid and plays a role in providing the termite who hosts in nitrogen.
Sebald, Madeleine 1930-. (1992, January 01). Retrieved January 26, 2019, from https://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n91070787
Harmon-Smith, Miranda, et al. “Complete Genome Sequence of Sebaldella Termitidis Type Strain (NCTC 11300T).’ Standards in Genomic Sciences, vol. 2, no. 2, 2010, pp. 220—227., doi:10.4056/sigs.811799.
Hello everyone! My name is Bryant Griffith. I am a Biology major with a concentration in Physiology. I have a pet snake named Scarlet that I love very much. Attached are photos of her and me.
