Microbes of the Day

Corynebacterium matruchotii

Atypical division called non-binary fission, elongates at one pole and then forms

multiple septae at once to divide (many daughter cells)

Halomonas titanicae

Steel-munching’, aerobic halophile that uses iron oxidation to gain energy

Dienococcus radiodurans

Extremely radiation tolerant due to multiple chromosomes packed into a nucleoid

called a torus

Prochlorococcus marinus

Photosynthetic marine cyanobacteria that requires a heterotrophic ‘helper’

(Alteromonas spp.) to survive, helper serves to detoxify hydrogen peroxide

Salmonella enterica subsp

Enterica serotype Typhi: Causes the foodborne illness typhoid fever, produces a

decoy siderophore called enterobactin and stealth siderophore called salmochelin that avoids host immune activation

Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus

Intracellular predator of gram negative bacteria, uses a type IV pilli to pull itself into

the host, secretes hydrolytic enzymes to dissolve the host, performs non-binary fission (divides into many cells at once)

Yersinia pestis

Causes bubonic & pneumonic plague, carried by rodents and fleas, injects toxins directly into

host cells using Type III secretion system

Bacillus cereus

Causes foodborne illness, makes extracellular vesicle (bEV) ‘lunch boxes’ to store nutrients for later

Halobacterium salinarum

Archea that uses bacteriorhodopsin to photosynthesize-- contains retinal to absorb

photons to power simple proton pump (does not have an ETS)

Sinorhizobium meliloti

Soil bacterium that fixes nitrogen in plant nodules by forming an intracellular

symbioses. Bacteria receive oxygen from leghemoglobin and sugars from host. Produces rhizopines, an exotic carbon that only S. meliloti in the soil can eat