BacterioFiles 308 - Predators' Projectile Prototypes

This episode: Eukaryotic ocean microbes have surprisingly diverse and complex ballistic weapons! Download Episode (8.2 MB, 9 minutes) Show notes: Microbe of the episode: Mycoplasma arginini Cool videos of microbial weapons firing Journal Paper: Gavelis GS, Wakeman KC, Tillmann U, Ripken C, Mitarai S, Herranz M, Özbek S, Holstein T, Keeling PJ, Leander BS. 2017. Microbial arms race: Ballistic “nematocysts” in dinoflagellates represent a new extreme in organelle complexity. Sci Adv 3:e1602552. Other interesting stories: Astronaut Kate Rubin's experience as microbiologist in space (paywall) Engineered nitrogen-fixing bacteria can reduce need for fertilizer (paper) Diversity of bacterial communities on leaves linked with ecosystem productivity (paper) Using parts of phages to do rapid detection of pathogens (paper) Microbiome modification contributes to effect of diabetes medication   Post questions or comments here or email to bacteriofiles at gmail dot com. Thanks for listening!