454: Hitchhiking Horticultural Helpers

This episode: Spores of some bacteria latch onto the tails of
other bacteria and ride along as they move around in the soil!


Download Episode (5.5 MB, 8.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Bohle iridovirus


 


News item

 


Takeaways




The soil is a complex environment, and microbes that live
in soil need complex lifestyles to thrive. There are many
examples of cooperation, competition, and other adaptations
to highly varied situations.


 


In this study, bacteria that grow like filamentous fungi
don't have the mechanisms to move autonomously, but their
spores can hitch rides on other kinds of bacteria that
swarm through the soil using their propeller-like tails
called flagella to push themselves toward the plant roots
they prefer to grow near.



 
Journal Paper:
Muok AR, Claessen D, Briegel A. 2021. Microbial hitchhiking:
how Streptomyces spores are transported by motile soil
bacteria. ISME J.



Other interesting stories:



"How microbes in permafrost could trigger a massive carbon
bomb"




 


Email questions or comments to bacteriofiles at gmail dot
com. Thanks for listening!


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