More fun things.
1) Caenorhabditis elegans, the classic nematode you all know and love, contains the endosymbiotic bacteria Xenorhabdus nematophila. C. elegans survives by parasitizing insect hosts; namely, caterpillars. To do this, it burrows into their flesh, which would normally be a suicide mission (living things are remarkably good at killing smaller living things). Fortunately, X. nematophila secretes a toxin that lyses gut cells and reduces the caterpillar's turgor, or rigidity. This toxin is named Mcf, for "makes caterpillar floppy."
1a) In World War I, certain species of bacteria normally involved in this endosymbiosis (Photorhabdus luminescens, among others) infected soldiers' wounds - soldiers whose wounds glowed in the darkness of the trenches were more likely to survive after treatment, possibly because these bacteria secret antibiotics against other, more destructive species.
2) There are bacteria that live in bacteria that live in termite cells.
3) The average cow rumen fluids contain over 200 species of bacteria at a concentration of 10 000 000 000 per milliliter, in addition to protozoans. These digest cellulose for the cow, who then digests the endosymbionts, thus making the cow one of the most powerful and efficient biosynthetic machines on Earth.
4) Some coccolithophores can cause algal blooms the size of England. When you see those satellite photos of Earth with milky, blue patches, those are Emiliania huxleyi.
Some quotes
"Trypanosomes... live an Alice-in-Wonderland existence." To my knowledge, this is not fully explained in the book.
"People who have observed [diatoms] tend to wax eloquent and call them by such names as 'nature's gems' or 'plants with a touch of glass.'"
"Paramecia are so big... that one could expect them, hippopotamus-like, to go about their business in a deliberate and unhurried manner." (italics me)
"Seawater contains about 10 000 000 phages per ml but only 0.0000000000000000001 great white sharks per ml!" -Forest Rohwer
From my professor
"Asking someone to choose between evolution and creationism is like asking, 'Which do you like better- yellow or ham?' You cannot have 'faith' in evolution; it's right there in front of you. It's not something you can choose whether or not to believe in."
"Kissing a child is just inoculation."
"Preschools should be considered level 4 biohazard areas. You should have to put on a space suit to go in one. Little kids are always sticky; they're walking incubators."
"Fungi are the orphans of microbiology - no one studies them."
Source: Microbe by Schaechter, Ingraham, and Neidhardt
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Carpe Diem Ad Muertum
Sieze the day, to the death. There is no potential that shall be passed by, there is no piece of glory to fall by the wayside, there is no soul to left unsaved by the brilliance of language. As writers, we are gods.
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