Tag: microbial communities
Microbial Life in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has been largely untouched by humans since the Chernobyl nuclear explosion in 1986. Now over 30 years later, there’s been an abundance of wildlife in the 1,600 square mile zone despite their exposure to radioactive material in the soil and food. Scientists are monitoring animal populations with camera traps set up in this area which have captured an abundance of wildlife on these cameras: grey wolves, raccoon dogs, boars, and foxes. (more…)
Are we more bacteria than human? That depends when you last pooped
For decades, the notion that bacteria living on our bodies outnumbered human cells 10 to 1 was popular among microbiologists and the public. Turns out, this estimation is wrong.
In 2016, Ron Sender, Shai Fuchs, and Ron Milo from the Weizmann Institute examined the origins of this estimation and found that the ratio is actually closer to 1:1. (more…)
Donating Your Poop for Science – Microbiome Studies
By Kanika Khanna
In this journey called life, we are not alone. We are inhabited by around 39 trillion microbial cells that account for ~57% of all cells in our body, making us half human and half microbes. This consortium of microbial species (including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and archaea) is referred to as the ‘human microbiome’ and the gut is home to more microbes than any other body part. Microbes present in the gut (and hence our poop) contribute to our health in a variety of ways including metabolism and immunity. (more…)
Acute Oak Decline: A Modern Adaptation of Koch’s Postulates
In the UK, thousands of oak trees are “bleeding,” oozing dark liquid from cracks on their bark. What lies underneath are fluid-filled necrotic cavities that disrupts their life force by impeding the normal flow of nutrients and water. Taking advantage of the weakened state of the trees, are bark-boring beetles, which lay their eggs in the cracks of the bark. These are the characteristic signs of Acute Oak Decline, a disease that can kill a tree within four or five years of symptom onset.
Acute Oak Decline made its appearance in 2008. Now, scientists have found that Acute Oak Decline is caused by a polymicrobial infection – in this case, a simultaneous infection of three bacterial species: Brenneria goodwinii, Gibbsiella quercinecans, and Rahnella victoriana. With the microbes (B. goodwinii and G. quercinecans) and beetle larvae in hand, the researchers were able to replicate the characteristic signs of Acute Oak Decline. (more…)