Griffith's experiment, performed by Frederick Griffith and reported in 1928, was the first experiment suggesting that bacteria are capable of transferring genetic information through a process known as transformation. Griffith's findings were followed by research in the late 1930s and early 40s that isolated DNA as the material that communicated this genetic information.
Oswald Theodore Avery Jr. was a Canadian-American physician and medical researcher. The major part of his career was spent at the Rockefeller Hospital in New York City. Avery was one of the first molecular biologists and a pioneer in immunochemistry, but he is best known for the experiment that isolated DNA as the material of which genes and chromosomes are made.
Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive, bacillus (rod-shaped), anaerobic, spore-forming pathogenic bacterium of the genus Clostridium. C. perfringens is ever-present in nature and can be found as a normal component of decaying vegetation, marine sediment, the intestinal tract of humans and other vertebrates, insects, and soil. It has the shortest reported generation time of any organism at 6.3 minutes in thioglycolate medium.
Vibrio vulnificus is a species of Gram-negative, motile, curved rod-shaped (vibrio), pathogenic bacteria of the genus Vibrio. Present in marine environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas, V. vulnificus is related to V. cholerae, the causative agent of cholera. At least one strain of V. vulnificus is bioluminescent. Increasing seasonal ocean temperatures and low-salt marine environments like estuaries favor a greater concentration of Vibrio within filter-feeding shellfish; V. vulnificus infections in the Eastern United States have increased eightfold from 1988–2018.
Waxworms are the caterpillar larvae of wax moths, which belong to the family Pyralidae. Two closely related species are commercially bred – the lesser wax moth and the greater wax moth. They belong to the tribe Galleriini in the snout moth subfamily Galleriinae. Another species whose larvae share that name is the Indian mealmoth, though this species is not available commercially.
Sphingomonas was defined in 1990 as a group of Gram-negative, rod-shaped, chemoheterotrophic, strictly aerobic bacteria. They possess ubiquinone 10 as their major respiratory quinone, contain glycosphingolipids (GSLs), specifically ceramide, instead of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in their cell envelopes, and typically produce yellow-pigmented colonies. The GSL serves to protect the bacteria from antibacterial substances. Unlike most Gram-negative bacteria, Sphingomonas cannot carry endotoxins due to the lack of lipopolysaccharides, and has a hydrophobic surface characterized by the short nature of the GSL's carbohydrate portion.
Citrus canker is a disease affecting Citrus species caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas. Infection causes lesions on the leaves, stems, and fruit of citrus trees, including lime, oranges, and grapefruit. While not harmful to humans, canker significantly affects the vitality of citrus trees, causing leaves and fruit to drop prematurely; a fruit infected with canker is safe to eat, but too unsightly to be sold. Citrus canker is mainly a leaf-spotting and rind-blemishing disease, but when conditions are highly favorable, it can cause defoliation, shoot dieback, and fruit drop.
Mycobacterium marinum is a slow growing fresh and saltwater mycobacterium (SGM) belonging to the genus Mycobacterium and the phylum Actinobacteria. It was formerly known as Mycobacterium balnei. The strain marinum was first identified by Joseph D. Aronson in 1926 and it is observed as a pathogenic mycobacterium causing tuberculosis-like infections in fish (mycobacteriosis) and skin lesions in humans. The bacteria grows optimal at a temperature around 30 °C.
Funk Brothers Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co., 333 U.S. 127 (1948), is a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court held that a facially trivial implementation of a natural principle or phenomenon of nature is not eligible for a patent.
GFAJ-1 is a strain of rod-shaped bacteria in the family Halomonadaceae. It is an extremophile that was isolated from the hypersaline and alkaline Mono Lake in eastern California by geobiologist Felisa Wolfe-Simon, a NASA research fellow in residence at the US Geological Survey. In a 2010 Science journal publication, the authors claimed that the microbe, when starved of phosphorus, is capable of substituting arsenic for a small percentage of its phosphorus to sustain its growth. Immediately after publication, other microbiologists and biochemists expressed doubt about this claim, which was robustly criticized in the scientific community. Subsequent independent studies published in 2012 found no detectable arsenate in the DNA of GFAJ-1, refuted the claim, and demonstrated that GFAJ-1 is simply an arsenate-resistant, phosphate-dependent organism.
Halomonas titanicae is a gram-negative, halophilic species of bacteria which was isolated in 2010 from rusticles recovered from the wreck of the RMS Titanic. It has been estimated by Henrietta Mann, one of the researchers that first isolated it, that the action of microbes like Halomonas titanicae may bring about the total deterioration of the Titanic by 2030. While the bacteria have been identified as a potential danger to oil rigs and other man-made objects in the deep sea, they also have the potential to be used in bioremediation to accelerate the decomposition of shipwrecks littering the ocean floor.
Biodegradable additives are additives that enhance the biodegradation of polymers by allowing microorganisms to utilize the carbon within the polymer chain as a source of energy. Biodegradable additives attract microorganisms to the polymer through quorum sensing after biofilm creation on the plastic product. Additives are generally in masterbatch formation that use carrier resins such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Exiguobacterium is a genus of bacilli and a member of the low GC phyla of Bacillota. Collins et al. first described the genus Exiguobacterium with the characterization of E. aurantiacum strain DSM6208T from an alkaline potato processing plant. It has been found in areas covering a wide range of temperatures (-12 °C—55 °C) including glaciers in Greenland and hot springs in Yellowstone, and has been isolated from ancient permafrost in Siberia. This ability to survive in varying temperature extremes makes them an important area of study. Some strains in addition to dynamic thermal adaption are also halotolerant, can grow within a wide range of pH values (5-11), tolerate high levels of UV radiation, and heavy metal stress.
Ideonella sakaiensis is a bacterium from the genus Ideonella and family Comamonadaceae capable of breaking down and consuming the plastic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using it as both a carbon and energy source. The bacterium was originally isolated from a sediment sample taken outside of a plastic bottle recycling facility in Sakai City, Japan.
Exiguobacterium sibiricum is a bacterium. The DR11 strain of these bacteria has been found to eat polystyrene. It was discovered in India, in wetlands by researchers in Shiv Nadar University. It was discovered alongside Exiguobacterium undrae strain DR14.
Corbomycin is a member of the glycopeptide family of antibiotics that are produced by soil bacteria.
Plastic degradation in marine bacteria describes when certain pelagic bacteria break down polymers and use them as a primary source of carbon for energy. Polymers such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are incredibly useful for their durability and relatively low cost of production, however it is their persistence and difficulty to be properly disposed of that is leading to pollution of the environment and disruption of natural processes. It is estimated that each year there are 9-14 million metric tons of plastic that are entering the ocean due to inefficient solutions for their disposal. The biochemical pathways that allow for certain microbes to break down these polymers into less harmful byproducts has been a topic of study to develop a suitable anti-pollutant.
Exiguobacterium chiriqhucha is a bacterium from the genus of Exiguobacterium.
Exiguobacterium undae is a species of Bacilli. Its discovery was published in the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. This species has the ability to metabolize arabinose, cellulose, fructose, and glucose. It may undergo fermentation by utilizing D-glucose, D-mannitol, D-ribose, and glycogen. E. undae is motile and it contains peritrichous flagella.
A plastivore is an organism capable of degrading and metabolising plastic. While plastic is normally thought of as non-biodegradable, a variety of bacteria, fungi and insects have been found to degrade it.
