trusha-daya
My adopted bacterium that I would like to share with everyone is Streptomyces. I have chosen this bacterium as it intrigued me when i found out that the smell from wet soil on a rainy morning does not actually come from the soil alone, but actually from the Streptomyces living within it.
This shows us that Streptomyces is Gram-positive as well as filamentrous!
This filamentous bacteria produces well-developed vegetative hyphae with branches. They form a complex substrate mycelium that aids in scavenging organic compounds from their substrates.
Streptomycetes are the most widely studied and well known genus of the actinomycete family. Streptomycetes usually inhabit soil and are important decomposers. They also produce more than half of the world's antibiotics, and are consequently invaluable in the medical field.
Streptomyces is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria that grows in various environments, and its shape resembles filamentous fungi. The morphological differentiation of Streptomyces involves the formation of a layer of hyphae that can differentiate into a chain of spores. The most interesting property of Streptomyces is the ability to produce bioactive secondary metabolites, such as antifungals, antivirals, antitumorals, anti-hypertensives, immunosuppressants, and especially antibiotics. The production of most antibiotics is species specific, and these secondary metabolites are important for Streptomyces species in order to compete with other microorganisms that come in contact, even within the same genre. Despite the success of the discovery of antibiotics, and advances in the techniques of their production, infectious diseases still remain the second leading cause of death worldwide, and bacterial infections cause approximately 17 million deaths annually, affecting mainly children and the elderly. Self-medication and overuse of antibiotics is another important factor that contributes to resistance, reducing the lifetime of the antibiotic, thus causing the constant need for research and development of new antibiotics.
Streptomyces bacteria are not simply free-living soil bacteria but have also evolved to live in symbiosis with plants, fungi and animals.
They're too small to see with the naked eye, but these microbes have abilities that put superheroes to shame
