Blog 6 - Chernobyl Fungus

I was researching a few different extremophiles and came across the Chernobyl Fungus; also known as Radiotrophic fungus. These different types of fungi, obviously, can be found in the abandoned, radioactive city of Chernobyl. They aren’t you’re typical fungi. They can actually use radioactivity as an energy source to grow, make food, and reproduce.

Arturo Casadevall began studying this fungus about 5 years ago when he saw that a robot was sent into reactor 4 in Chernobyl, “and had returned with samples of black, melanin-rich fungi that were growing on the ruined reactor’s walls.” He immediately thought that these fungi could in fact be using the radiation as an energy source.

After Casadevalls peak of interest in this fungus, he performed a variety of tests with a few different types of fungi. They were exposed to different levels of radiation that were about 500 times higher than the radiation around us every day. The results proved that they do, in fact, use radiation as an energy source. The tested fungi grew faster when exposed to radiation.

"Just as the pigment chlorophyll converts sunlight into chemical energy that allows green plants to live and grow, our research suggests that melanin can use a different portion of the electromagnetic spectrum - ionizing radiation - to benefit the fungi containing it," said co-researcher Ekaterina Dadachova.

It is amazing to see that even in such an extreme environment, there are still microorganisms able to live and strive. I had no idea that certain microbes could live, and grow using radiation as their energy source.

Blog 5 - Microbes and Wine

     French winemaking uses a special concept known as “Terroir.” Such a mysterious word… and it will stay that way because there is no English definition. What we do know is that it is a combination of soil, geology, climate, and certain grape-growing practices. Terroir gives wine a very special taste. This special taste can make any wine taster identify where the wine originated. For years, United States vineyards have questioned the concept of Terroir, and recently, researchers have come to the conclusion that this distinct wine taste comes from bacteria that grows on the outside of the grape.

     

     These bacteria can affect the growth and health of the grapes. They are also incorporated in the mashing of the grapes. The different types of fungi that grow on the grape have yeast-like properties, and they help progress the fermentation. But, this is all just a theory. Researchers are not 100% for sure that this fungus is related to the Terroir.

    

      With advanced tools for studying microbes, a research team led by David A. Mills and Nicholas A. Bokulich sampled grapes from vineyards throughout California. They concluded that different microbes are related to different types of wine grapes. Different microbes are found in different vineyards as well. Some flourish in vineyards, while others don’t. They believe this is what gives the distinct flavor in each wine.

 Dr. Mills believes that there is a distinction between vineyards and microbes play a big role in this.

“On the other hand, he added, pinning the qualities of wine on bacteria and fungi may spoil that frisson of enchantment for some connoisseurs. “Many people don’t want this figured out,” he said, “because it demystifies the wonderful mystery of wine.”

I believe the authors main idea is very clear in this article. I knew microbes were involved in fermentation, but I had no idea different microbes flourished in different vineyards causing different tastes. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/science/microbes-may-explain-some-of-the-mysteries-of-terroir-and-wine.html?_r=0

Blog 4 - Red Tide

Since I recently did my essay, "A day in the life of a microbe,” about the Red Tide, I did a bit more research about it, and searched “Red Tide” on the New York Times webpage.

    Apparently, back in September of 2012, there were reports of a Red Tide pandemic in the Yangtze River of China. The water changed from the typical warm and brown, to a colder and rusty orange color. This was due to a “crimson current advancing alongside a stretch of untainted water.” The red tide is usually caused by an algae, and that’s what scientists thought this was; an algal bloom. The bacteria in the algae tend to feed off of warm and salty water and because of the climate change in China in 2012, the Red Tide algae blooms began to appear more and more. 

   Tests have been performed throughout the world to see what causes such a large spread. Reports of the Red Tide have come from Iran, Senegal, Russia, Ukraine, France and Turkey. Most reports in the United States tend to be from the Gulf of Mexico. The algae are a big concern. They can attack fish and can even be poisonous to humans (typically harmless, but can cause skin irritations). So it’s important to understand it, and see if these blooms are on the rise.

  

 This article wouldn't be very interesting to most people, especially if they haven’t learned much about the Red Tide. There would be a lot of questions about this article if there wasn't any prior research. Red Tide algae blooms can lead to high quantity aquatic life deaths, and is a big concern.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/a-red-tide-epidemic/

Blog 3 - Bacteria in Your Car

When buying a used car, you don't just pay for a new vehicle, you also pay for all the bacteria and grossness that the previous owner left behind. Cars can be a bacteria breeding ground.

Back in 2012, Ford Motor Company conducted research with the University of Michigan to see really whats in your car. They mainly focused on employee owned Ford vehicles. 

Researchers tested 10 different areas in the car that included buttons, switches, shift knobs, handles, and especially the steering wheel. It was common to see that the steering wheel and area around the cup holders were home to most bacteria. These samples helped Dr. Blaise Boles to pinpoint where the most common place bacteria lived in a car, and the type of microorganisms that lived in those areas. 

Ford conducted this test in help of finding a paint to clean these places inside a vehicle, and are testing said product. It is used to not only sterilize the surface, but to also starve the microorganisms to stop microbial growth. Ford wants to use this paint in the cabins of future cars. 

But Ford only tested employee owned cars. There could be much more in older cars from the 90's and early 2000's. This was mentioned in the article and said, "the study doesn't distinguish between bacterial growth and the materials used in cars and trucks from other automakers." 

So once the paint product is finished, will it only be used on newer production Ford vehicles, or will the public be able to buy this product and paint it on their own cars? Everyone should care about the environment inside their vehicles, and maybe this is one big step towards that.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-blog/2012/11/Is_Your_Cars_Interior_a_Bacteria_Breeding_Ground/