Day 7. The pink microbes you can see from space: Many salty lakes turn pink, thanks in part to the bacteria & archaea that live there. They have been making “millennial pink” for many millennia (i’ll be here all week) #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm photos:...
February 5, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Day 7. The pink microbes you can see from space: Many salty lakes turn pink, thanks in part to the bacteria & archaea that live there. They have been making “millennial pink” for many millennia (i’ll be here all week) #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm photos:...
I'm a bigger fan of St. Jordi's Day (celebrated w/books & flowers) than #ValentinesDay, but to celebrate love & the glories of pinks, I'm going to post 14 days of pink microbes.
First up, unspecified species of microbes isolated from plants #scicomm #MicrobeValentinesDay
First up, unspecified species of microbes isolated from plants #scicomm #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:19 AM
I'm a bigger fan of St. Jordi's Day (celebrated w/books & flowers) than #ValentinesDay, but to celebrate love & the glories of pinks, I'm going to post 14 days of pink microbes.
First up, unspecified species of microbes isolated from plants #scicomm #MicrobeValentinesDay
First up, unspecified species of microbes isolated from plants #scicomm #MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 2. The pink microbes growing below are likely Micrococcus roseus. A 'normal' skin resident, like a flamingo in the estuary of your salty cheek. The pink of this microbe is from a carotenoid pigment, just like the pink that makes flamingos so showy! #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Day 2. The pink microbes growing below are likely Micrococcus roseus. A 'normal' skin resident, like a flamingo in the estuary of your salty cheek. The pink of this microbe is from a carotenoid pigment, just like the pink that makes flamingos so showy! #MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 3. This is a yeast, but not a yeast that's ever going to help make beer. Instead, it creates pink carotenoids to protect itself from radiation, particularly useful for a yeast found sunning itself in plants, in nectar, & in the water. Pink is powerful. #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Day 3. This is a yeast, but not a yeast that's ever going to help make beer. Instead, it creates pink carotenoids to protect itself from radiation, particularly useful for a yeast found sunning itself in plants, in nectar, & in the water. Pink is powerful. #MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 4. Christmas wreath lichen! Lichen include a community of diverse microbes that help each other stressful conditions. I used the @pantone app to use these lichens to pick colors for the associated image. This counts as biomimicry, right? #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm
February 5, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Day 4. Christmas wreath lichen! Lichen include a community of diverse microbes that help each other stressful conditions. I used the @pantone app to use these lichens to pick colors for the associated image. This counts as biomimicry, right? #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm
Day 5. Next time you are in a stagnant estuary puddle, pull back some of the decaying leaves & you may find a lovely pink velvet surprise-purple sulfur bacteria feasting on this glorious influx of nutrients. The pink pigments help them harvest light energy. #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Day 5. Next time you are in a stagnant estuary puddle, pull back some of the decaying leaves & you may find a lovely pink velvet surprise-purple sulfur bacteria feasting on this glorious influx of nutrients. The pink pigments help them harvest light energy. #MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 6. Red rice mold, Monascus, on white rice. These microbes have been used as natural food colorants for>1000 years. More recently, these edible microbes-found on red yeast rice-have been shown to have biological activities that might be medically useful. #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Day 6. Red rice mold, Monascus, on white rice. These microbes have been used as natural food colorants for>1000 years. More recently, these edible microbes-found on red yeast rice-have been shown to have biological activities that might be medically useful. #MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 8. A pink (red) microbe that is so audaciously sanguine, when growing on bread in 332 BC, it was mistaken for "miraculous blood." Serratia is truly divine, if perhaps a bit graphic for a thread devoted to microbes associated w/a heart-themed holiday.
#MicrobeValentinesDay
#MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Day 8. A pink (red) microbe that is so audaciously sanguine, when growing on bread in 332 BC, it was mistaken for "miraculous blood." Serratia is truly divine, if perhaps a bit graphic for a thread devoted to microbes associated w/a heart-themed holiday.
#MicrobeValentinesDay
#MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 9. A healthy pink glow of antibiotic production. This is a soil bacterium that is likely producing actinorhodin an antibiotic that is pink at a certain pH and blue at another. - Pseudonocardia sp. (image lightened to reveal the backlit colonies) #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm
February 5, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Day 9. A healthy pink glow of antibiotic production. This is a soil bacterium that is likely producing actinorhodin an antibiotic that is pink at a certain pH and blue at another. - Pseudonocardia sp. (image lightened to reveal the backlit colonies) #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm
Day 11. Pink trees! These fungi produce vibrant pigments in the wood of infected trees. Some woodworkers intentionally add the fungus to wood in order to harness this pink color. (Fusarium & Arthrographis, among other taxa). Photos from Maine. #scicomm #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Day 11. Pink trees! These fungi produce vibrant pigments in the wood of infected trees. Some woodworkers intentionally add the fungus to wood in order to harness this pink color. (Fusarium & Arthrographis, among other taxa). Photos from Maine. #scicomm #MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 12. The pink slime in your shower: a microbe that proves pink is powerful. Methylobacteria survive toxic cleaning agents, & feed off truly tough chemicals when living w/plants. These resilient creatures produced the pigment for this heart #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Day 12. The pink slime in your shower: a microbe that proves pink is powerful. Methylobacteria survive toxic cleaning agents, & feed off truly tough chemicals when living w/plants. These resilient creatures produced the pigment for this heart #MicrobeValentinesDay
Day 14. The humble Bacillus-ubiquitous, yet often-overlooked. These diamonds in the rough produce enzymes used in detergents, & in paper and cotton processing. They were there helping us make every child valentine card in our youth. Happy valentines day! #microbevalentinesday
February 5, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Day 14. The humble Bacillus-ubiquitous, yet often-overlooked. These diamonds in the rough produce enzymes used in detergents, & in paper and cotton processing. They were there helping us make every child valentine card in our youth. Happy valentines day! #microbevalentinesday
The pink microbe list in #microbeValentinesDay was too fun to stop at 14 images (all of which are showcased below-citations in the actual tweets-follow the hashtag). So I’m going to keep going. But I need your help! What are your fav pink (or reddish) microbes?
#pink #scicomm
#pink #scicomm
February 5, 2025 at 1:03 AM
The pink microbe list in #microbeValentinesDay was too fun to stop at 14 images (all of which are showcased below-citations in the actual tweets-follow the hashtag). So I’m going to keep going. But I need your help! What are your fav pink (or reddish) microbes?
#pink #scicomm
#pink #scicomm
Day 16. An ethereal pink cloud. Bacillus licheniformis—producer of enzymes we rely on every day & found in soil and on bird feathers—growing on a charcoal-containing medium (giving it the dark backdrop). Source: @bacteriagram on Instagram. #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm
February 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Day 16. An ethereal pink cloud. Bacillus licheniformis—producer of enzymes we rely on every day & found in soil and on bird feathers—growing on a charcoal-containing medium (giving it the dark backdrop). Source: @bacteriagram on Instagram. #MicrobeValentinesDay #scicomm
Twitter's auto-cropping algorithm infuriates me. Here is my #MicrobeValentinesDay post from today (Day 16). Image courtesy of @bacteriagram on Instagram. Hopefully less awkwardly cropped this time.
February 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Twitter's auto-cropping algorithm infuriates me. Here is my #MicrobeValentinesDay post from today (Day 16). Image courtesy of @bacteriagram on Instagram. Hopefully less awkwardly cropped this time.
info). @northspore #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
info). @northspore #MicrobeValentinesDay
own selfie) #MicrobeValentinesDay #Mars2020
February 5, 2025 at 12:58 AM
own selfie) #MicrobeValentinesDay #Mars2020
Day 19. Petri plates meet dinner plates w/Fusarium venenatum, used to make the “meat” in Quorn chicken (meat I have always enjoyed eating...hint hint @QuornUS!) Mycoprotein like this is more sustainable to produce. Photo composition: @ASMicrobiology on ig #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Day 19. Petri plates meet dinner plates w/Fusarium venenatum, used to make the “meat” in Quorn chicken (meat I have always enjoyed eating...hint hint @QuornUS!) Mycoprotein like this is more sustainable to produce. Photo composition: @ASMicrobiology on ig #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Day 20. Not all microbes are microscopic. Pink coral mushrooms, for example, are composed of many, many individual single-celled microbes. For years we thought they were plants, when they were microbes hiding in plain sight. #MicrobeValentinesDay photo:...
February 5, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Day 20. Not all microbes are microscopic. Pink coral mushrooms, for example, are composed of many, many individual single-celled microbes. For years we thought they were plants, when they were microbes hiding in plain sight. #MicrobeValentinesDay photo:...
Day 21. E. coli, of homicidal romaine lettuce fame, is not typically pink, but it is pink when grown on certain media (the growth contents in a petri plate). Media like this help clinicians distinguish what species are in a sample. #MicrobeValentinesDay...
February 5, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Day 21. E. coli, of homicidal romaine lettuce fame, is not typically pink, but it is pink when grown on certain media (the growth contents in a petri plate). Media like this help clinicians distinguish what species are in a sample. #MicrobeValentinesDay...
Day 24. A soil fungus that catches nematodes (microscopic worms that can harm plants). These aren’t naturally pink, but are dyed with rose bengal dye that helps w/visualization. This photo & prep is from under.the.scope on ig (follow her for more delights!) #MicrobeValentinesDay
February 5, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Day 24. A soil fungus that catches nematodes (microscopic worms that can harm plants). These aren’t naturally pink, but are dyed with rose bengal dye that helps w/visualization. This photo & prep is from under.the.scope on ig (follow her for more delights!) #MicrobeValentinesDay