Camille Sunker
My adopted bacterium is Pseudomonas syringae.
this is the most interesting microbe i have come across
i have learnt that if we've ever been skiing or skating on artificial snow/ice, we have microbes to thank!
watch this video to learn more about what Pseudomonas syringae does and how :)
A transmission electron microscope image of Pseudomonas syringae. The flagella and pili are indicated with arrows. Flagella enable bacteria to swim toward or away from specific chemical stimuli. Pili are involved in the secretion of proteins.
This is what Pseudomonas syringae looks like entering a leaf of a plant through the stomata.
Pseudomonas syringae are rod shaped and gram negative.
Pseudomonas syringae is a rod shaped Gram-negative bacteria, with an aerobic metabolism, and polar flagella. It is a plant pathogen that can be characterized by its inability to properly utilize arginine, because it lacks the assistance of the arginine dihydrolase system. This species of bacteria is actually represented by over 50 different pathovar strains, which is a set of bacterial strains with similar characteristics differentiated by their distinctive pathogenicity toward one or more plant hosts. Each strain of Pseudomonas syringae is specific for a particular plant. All Pseudomonas syringae strains lack a specific cytochrome C oxidase in their respiratory electron transport chain, which causes a negative oxidase reaction to result. It is a nutritionally versatile organism that thrives on damaged plant tissues, and most notably, colonizes the surface of plant leaves. Each strain is specific to a particular species of plant for which it infects. However, it should be noted that not all strains of Pseudomonas syringae are necessarily pathogenic and can develop in non-host plants as well. Non-pathogenic strains have been researched as potential sources of inoculations for plants, serving as a form of antifungal treatment. This in turn generated great interest in sequencing the various genomes of the different strains of P. syringae, in order to better understand the potential utilization of these plant pathogens in agriculture, the identification of genes that are specifically expressed in plants, and enhance the capability of utilizing the ice nucleation properties found within this bacterial species. Besides the use of this bacterium as an antifungal agent against post-harvest rots, it has been found that it has the capability to prevent/ reduce the effects of frost damage on cash crops such as those of the citrus industry. Genomic sequences led to the discovery on a genomic island that produces the nucleation protein necessary for the formation of ice within P. syringae. This discovery has led to the capability of producing artificial snow, a necessity for some ski resorts.
Several bacterial species can serve as biological ice nuclei. The best characterized of these is Pseudomonas syringae, a widely distributed bacterial epiphyte of plants.
For eons agriculturalists have been fighting what they call "bacterial speck" on tomatoes and other crop plants, without anyone realizing that the same bacteria is at the heart of rain and snow.
The next time you watch a snowfall, just think that among the falling flakes are some that house bacteria at their core.
