And so, #14DaysofMicrobiologyPoems continues.
I reached out to the science Twitterverse earlier this month in search of 14 microbes worthy of poems.
Here is Poem Five, requested by @justineldees.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa meets the plant root
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is all around!
Many call it a “ubiquitous” microorganism,
Colonizing humans, animals, and plants.
Surviving on nonliving surfaces.
Few organisms infect both plants and humans,
But P. aeruginosa surely does.
When P. aeruginosa finds a sweet basil plant,
It makes its way to the roots,
Colonizing them.
Then multiplying
And dividing.
Growing so much,
That it begins to form a biofilm,
A thick layer of cells encased in a sticky matrix.
Think: slime.
While P. aeruginosa infects,
The sweet basil puts up its defenses.
Secreting rosmarinic acid full of antibacterial activity,
Trying to fend for itself.
But P. aeruginosa also has a plan.
For rosmarinic acid does not have the same effect in biofilms.
Cells that have made its way into the biofilm
Have found refuge.
In the end, the biofilm overpowers.
P. aeruginosa kills the plant,
Sometimes in just one week.
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