Bacteria - The Benign, the Bad, and the Beautiful - T. Wassenaar, K. Farkas (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) WW

228 Pages·2012·9.5 MB·English

Bacteria

Bacteria

The Benign, the Bad, and the Beautiful

by

Trudy M. Wassenaar

Illustrations

Karoly Farkas

With photographs by
Eshel Ben Jacob

A John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Publication

Copyright © 2012 by Wiley-Blackwell, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Wassenaar, Trudy M.

Bacteria : the benign, the bad, and the beautiful / Trudy M. Wassenaar.

p. cm.

Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-118-10766-9 (hardback)
1.
Bacteria. 2.
Bacteria–Ecology. 3.
Microbiology.
I. Title.

QR74.8.W37 2012
616.9′201–dc23

2011021003

Printed in the United States of America

oBook ISBN: 978-1-118-14339-1
ePDF ISBN: 978-1-118-14336-0
ePub ISBN: 978-1-118-14338-4
eMOBI ISBN: 978-1-118-14337-7

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Preface
vii

Note to the Reader
ix

1. The Blue Planet
1

2. Tree of Life: Let Three Live
9

3. How Old Are They?
17

4. On the Move
23

5. Needles
29

6. Dead or Alive
35

7. Nobel Works
43

8. Bacteria and Insects
51

9. Bacterial Toxins
59

10. Enzymes
67

v

vi
CONTENTS

11. Genetics and Genomics
75

12. Antibiotics and Resistance
81

13. Marine Microbiology
87

14. Bacteria and Oil
95

15. Extreme Life
103

16. Record Holders
109

17. Bacteria and Art
117

18. Fixing the Air
125

19. Pest and Pestilence
131

20. Our Bacteria
141

21. Sensing Bacteria
149

22. Bacteria and Mankind
155

23. Big Questions on Small Subjects
163

24. Synthetic Biology
169

25. Bacteria, the Earth, and Beyond
177

Glossary
183

Bibliography
195

Index of Bacterial Genera and Species
205

Subject Index
209

Preface

This book is meant to be an antidote.

An antidote to neutralize some of the bad press that bacteria frequently receive,

which could easily leave the impression that bacteria’s main aim is to attack us,
make us sick, or even kill us. Such press imprints us with the idea that all bacteria
are mostly concerned with one goal: to damage humans where and when they can.
This does not apply to the vast majority. Despite the few nasty ones out there, most
bacteria are completely harmless, and this book tries to restore their reputation.

This book is an antidote to balance all existing books on biological subjects

that completely ignore bacteria, pretending they are not important. As if a plant or
animal could survive without bacteria (they cannot). As if mammals do not carry
more bacteria than body cells. As if these bacteria living inside and on us do not
carry more genes than our own genome does. Let’s face it: we are a living support
for bacteria, and these little wonders of evolution made us what we are.

The antidote is meant for future students who will likely be taught only a

fraction of the knowledge that is available about bacteria. Medical microbiology
mainly teaches about bacteria that cause disease, ignoring the fact that these account
for a small minority that inhabit the bacterial world. Food microbiologists may
concentrate on food poisoning, bacteria needed for food processing, or even those
causing spoilage, but they often remain oblivious to the bacteria that helped these
plant and animal foods to grow in the first place. Marine microbiologists learn
little about bacteria living in soil, and so on. Why not start with a little knowledge
about everything, before specializing. It will stimulate an open mind to science as
a whole.

This book is also meant to be an antidote for all those who think bacteria are

boring. Obviously they are not; otherwise, these pages could not have been filled.

vii

viii
PREFACE

However, the fact that you intend to read this book means that you display an
interest in bacteria, or at least you are willing to make their acquaintance. You may
thus not be the audience for which the antidote would be most effective, but at
least it is hoped your interest is rewarded, and that you enjoy reading about this
invisible subject, bacteria, which can be bad, benign or beautiful, but certainly not
boring.

Note to the Reader

No prior knowledge about bacteria by the reader is assumed, although a general
acceptance that bacteria exist, and some rudimentary knowledge of biology and
chemistry is expected (and a faint idea about medicine, geology, geography and
history). All scientific concepts are explained the first time they are introduced but
used without much explanation in following chapters. Although all chapters can
be read independently, it is, therefore, better to start with the first chapter and then
just keep reading. The use of jargon and technical language is avoided, with the
exception of scientific bacterial names. A glossary of scientific terms at the end of
the book may prove helpful.

All bacterial species that feature in this book are listed in the alphabetical index

at the end. A subject index is also provided.

Students who are interested in in-depth information might find the bibliography

useful, where scientific literature is listed for each chapter.

The interested reader might be tempted to investigate particular subjects further,

for which the Internet is a great resource. Such initiatives can only be encouraged.
However, a considerable proportion of the information on microbiology provided
by this medium is imprecise or conflictive, if not completely wrong. All subjects
treated in this book were carefully checked with recent scientific literature, and a
current consensus of opinion is presented where possible. Scientific interpretations
sometimes differ between sources, and in these cases the choice of presented options
is subjective.

The characters of Mrs. White, Joe, and Liz are imaginary. Scientific and noble

titles of existing persons have been omitted throughout.

ix

This colony of Paenibacillus dendritiformis was grown for 8 days on an agar plate
that provided a lot of moisture and a strong, solid support, but very little food,
containing only 0.5% gram/liter peptone. From the center of the plate, where the
bacteria had been seeded, the colony spread in a beautiful wheel of radiant growth.

1

Here, Paenibacillus dendritiformis bacteria were grown on poor nutrients on a
hard surface. Their medium contained 2 g/L peptone and 1.5% agar. The dot in
the center is where bacteria were inoculated. The colony diameter is 6 cm.

2