429: Springtails Smell, Spread Streptomyces

This episode: Bacteria in soil produce smells to attract
arthropods that eat them but also spread their spores!


Download Episode (6.2 MB, 9.0 minutes)

Show notes:
Microbe of the episode: Blotched snakehead virus


 


News item

Takeaways


Soil, especially after a rain, often has a characteristic
"earthy" smell. This soil smell is actually the result of
certain bacteria producing a volatile chemical called
geosmin. Many geosmin producers are in the Streptomyces
genus, which produces a large variety of interesting
chemicals, but geosmin is one of the few that is nearly
universal in the genus.


 


This study found that insect-like arthropods called
springtails are attracted to geosmin. These animals usually
feed on fungi, but they will also eat bacteria when
available. Despite this result, the bacteria continue to
produce the chemical, which is linked to their sporulation
cycle. The study found that springtails carry intact
bacterial spores to new places stuck to the insides and
outsides of the animal, and this enhances the dispersal
ability of the bacteria.


Journal Paper:
Becher PG, Verschut V, Bibb MJ, Bush MJ, Molnár BP, Barane E,
Al-Bassam MM, Chandra G, Song L, Challis GL, Buttner MJ, Flärdh
K. 2020. Developmentally regulated volatiles geosmin and
2-methylisoborneol attract a soil arthropod to Streptomyces
bacteria promoting spore dispersal. 6. Nat Microbiol 5:821–829.


Other interesting stories:



Silicon nanowires help bacteria harvest light to fix carbon
dioxide

Bacterium produces membrane balls containing enzymes to
help digest lignin




 


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


Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Android, or RSS.
Support the show at Patreon, or check out the show
at Twitter or Facebook.