449: Paralyzed Poisons Push Power

This episode: Deep-sea bacteria can detoxify cadmium and convert
it to light-capturing particles!


Download Episode (5.8 MB, 8.4 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Arthrobacter virus Sonny


 


Takeaways




Hydrothermal vents can have thriving communities, despite
being too deep for much light to penetrate. Microbes can
derive energy from chemicals coming out of the vent, and form
the foundation of the food chain. But toxic heavy metals also
come out of the vent, including lead, mercury, and cadmium.


 


The microbes in this study were found to be resistant to
cadmium, which they can detoxify by combining it with the
sulfur found in the amino acid cysteine. This forms
cadmium-sulfur nanoparticles, which can function as
light-absorbing semiconductors, allowing the bacteria to
harvest light energy.



 
Journal Paper:
Ma N, Sha Z, Sun C. 2021. Formation of cadmium sulfide
nanoparticles mediates cadmium resistance and light utilization
of the deep-sea bacterium Idiomarina sp. OT37-5b. Environ
Microbiol 23:934–948.


Other interesting stories:



Different fungi behave differently in growing through a
tiny maze

Bacteriophages could be used as disinfectants in some
situations (paper)




 


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com. Thanks for listening!


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