Pseudomonas bacteria have special weapons to defend themselves, which look like a bow and arrow. Onto that arrow, the bacteria glue toxins that can harm and even kill other microbes. When Pseudomonas comes close to another microbial foe, it shoots that arrow with the toxins into the foe to get rid of its enemy.
The so-called biocontrol bacterium Pseudomonas putida likes to grow in soils close to plant roots. Here, it lives in symbiosis with the plant and produces substances that help the plant grow bigger and produce more fruitful crops. With its special weapon, the bacterium also protects the plant against diseases since it kills harmful intruders.
Like all organisms, plants need nitrogen to grow and produce crops. But since they cannot directly use nitrogen from the atmosphere, they rely on bacteria to fix the nitrogen for them. In exchange, plants provide them with sugars, energy and protection from their surroundings. Read on to learn more about the nitrogen-fixing superpower of bacteria and why it is crucial for our global food production.
Our world as well as the bacterial world are full of vibrant colours. These colours exist thanks to biopigments; molecules able to capture light and reflect the corresponding colour. Many organisms, as well as bacteria, learned to use biopigments to harvest energy from sunlight, fight foes and adapt to new and challenging environments. Read on to learn what makes the bacterial world so colourful and why biopigments are the Earth’s life savers.
To feed the growing population on our planet, we need to improve our agriculture for plants to stay healthy and produce crops efficiently. One way to protect plants from diseases is to use biocontrol bacteria that actively kill intruding pathogens. Hence, by increasing our food supply, bacteria can help us save this planet.
Bacteria learned to live on all sorts of surfaces and in different environments. This also includes plants. Unfortunately, some bacteria can also make plants sick. These have special mechanisms with which they speak the language of plants with the goal to enter them.
Pathogens and dirty particles contaminate our water supply. But helpful microbes can remove harmful bacteria and pollutants and thus clean our drinking water.
Some bacteria have special hair-like structures to connect to surfaces or other organisms. These bacterial pili help them move along that surface or pull themselves closer to a prey or host. Read about why bacteria need those pili when they are out hunting or infecting us.
Microbes produce nutrients and help promote plant growth to produce more bountiful crops and sustainable agriculture.
A deadly fungus kills many exotic amphibians. Luckily, some bacteria antibiotics to kill the fungal intruder and thus protect the animal. With this colourful strategy, the right microbial community might even save whole species from extinction.
We have created a lot of toxin pollution. Now we need microbe’s help to degrade and remove toxic materials from our environment to make our planet greener.
When bacteria fight competitors with their type 6 secretion system nanoweapons, they shoot deadly arrows. These arrows are made of specific parts that interact with each other in unique ways for each arrow. Here, we will look at these different parts: the tip, the spike and the toxin.
Producing plastics requires a lot of energy, which is a massive burden for the environment. Fortunately, bacteria already know how to make sustainable versions of plastics which we can use in our everyday life. Learn why bacteria produce natural plastics and why these molecules can help us save this planet.
Throughout your day, you’re likely using several pieces of plastics. All this plastic waste takes up space in our landfills and overflows into rivers and oceans. Luckily, some bacteria can eat and degrade plastic to help us get rid of all this clutter. Read on to learn how plastic-degrading bacteria may be the key to a greener and healthier planet.
The players in the microbial world always interact with each other driving ecology and evolution forward. Bacteriophages thank their bacterial hosts for their production in a very special way: They protect bacteria from antibiotic attacks by forming shielding walls around the cells. While the microbial world gets more and more complex with such mechanisms, it also represents another strategy for antimicrobial resistances.
Microbes and bacteria touch every aspect of our lives. They have so many superpowers that impact the environment, food production, bioremediation and even the climate. Here, we will look at 20 of the most fascinating bacterial superpowers and tell you where you might encounter them throughout your day. But don’t forget, there are plenty more.
Bacteria can sense the iron concentration of their environment thanks to special iron transporters, of which they produce multiple.
Bacteria can be major problems for human health. One of the reasons for that is because they have the ability to hide in their own houses. Such a house is called a bacterial biofilm which protect bacteria from harsh environments, toxic chemicals and to form a community within the biofilm.
Some pathogenic bacteria use a weapon which is called type 3 secretion system to infect their host targets.
Bacterial killing is happening everywhere where bacteria fight for space and nutrients. Some bacteria have highly efficient weapons to kill other microbes. These killer bacteria can survive in the rarest and driest environmental niches. Just by killing other bacteria.
What kind of fantastic nanoweapon is that?
