Connection Project-John Schlichting-Microbiology 4000:Pradhan

Over the duration of this course we have talked about a lot of different microorganisms
and how they inhabit the world around us. One of the ideas discussed was the prevalence of
microbes throughout our daily lives; I had been aware that bacteria coated our bodies and
enveloped a large majority of our personal space. However, I was unaware of the vast variety of
microbial growth in our world. Different optimal pH levels, temperatures, concentration of
oxygen, and other factors play a large role in how these microbes exploit these nutritional
niches around us. The microbes around us can help describe our region, health, and general
well-being.

Environmental Microbiology
I had the great opportunity to travel to Glacier National Park during my high school
career. One of the more interesting parts of the trip was a talk one of our teachers gave during a
long hike that entered the alpine zone. This region does not contain trees because the intense
cold and lack of oxygen caused by the high altitude, ~11,000-11,500 ft, prevent their growth.
Prior to reaching the alpine zone, we began to notice signs forbidding hikers to walk off of the
trail. Our teacher told us the purpose of these signs is to allow delicate organisms and plants to
grow undisturbed on rocky outcrops in the nutrient limited alpine zone. Even the misplaced boot
could destroy hundreds of years of lichen growth. In this
region, roots and rhizome biomasses function in reclaiming
water and nutrients while also storing valuable carbohydrate
resources below ground1. A heavy boot print could expose
the soil of these plants causing them to blow away in worst
cases. The most common organisms of the alpine zone are
perennial grasses, prostrate shrubs, bryophytes, and
lichens. These organisms must survive a harsh region with
drastically different topography; going from a windswept
region to a snow covered region has large implications on productivity and the organism’s
microbial community2. Just the slightest shift in temperature could alter enzymatic functions
reducing productivity. When reading, I came across a category on lichen describing how this
interesting organism is actually a mutualistic symbiotic combination of fungus and algal or
cyanobacterium. Unlike fungi, lichen expose their vegetative parts on the surface of their
substrates to better capture the intense radiation from the thinner atmosphere of the alpine
zone. Suitable photoautotrophs are necessary for the fungus to develop the characteristic
symbiotic relationship between cyanobacteria and fungi3. These two organisms primarily form

1
​Brown and Chambers, Billings. “Grassland Habitat Group.” Bureau of Land Management, United States Department
of Interior, 1990,
web.archive.org/web/20080724070058/http://www.blm.gov/wildlife/plan/WY/Alpine%20Tundra%20Grassland.pdf​.
2
​National Parks Service. “Alpine Tundra Ecosystem.” Rocky Mountain-Alpine Tundra Ecosystem, U.S. Department of
the Interior, 29 May 2018, ​www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/alpine_tundra_ecosystem.htm​.
3
​Massimiliano Cardinale, João Vieira de Castro, Henry Müller, Gabriele Berg, Martin Grube; In situ analysis of the
bacterial community associated with the reindeer lichen Cladonia arbuscula reveals predominance of
three types of lichen in nature; crustose, foliose, and fruticose lichens. Lichen cover about 7% of
the earth, some grow about 3 ft per year, others grow slowly and live for thousands of years.
Lichen play a key role in generating biomass and other carbon sources onto rocky and other
uninhabitable surfaces. Once the lichen have expired, other organisms make use of the
released nutrients and more vegetative growth is supported. For a long time, scientists had
thought that lichen were a combination of fungus and cyanobacteria species. However, recent
studies have shown that more microbial species are involved in the symbiotic relationship of
lichen formation4. This points to greater exploitation of solar energy by lichens.

Biotechnology making use of microbes

I have always enjoyed being outside in nature, and Glacier National Park offered a great
experience to see the truly untouched and pristine outdoors of the Montana-Canadian border. It
was jolting to return to Ohio to see our roadways, waterways, and forests littered with human
refuse.

These materials will be in our environment for generations to come and will most likely
be our artifacts once we have passed. We currently do not have the technological means or
support to restore our environment. However,
this current situation has led to some interesting
microbial adaptations in response to human
waste production. It is a sad fact, but when
microbes are placed in contact with only one
source of energy; they will eventually adapt to
this energy source or die. We provide an almost
unlimited resource of material to exploit in the
form of refuse. Specifically, plastic waste has
become an area of focus after microbes in a
Japanese trash dump were discovered growing

Alphaproteobacteria, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Volume 66, Issue 1, 1 October 2008, Pages 63–71,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2008.00546.x
4
​Ignacio González, Angel Ayuso-Sacido, Annaliesa Anderson, Olga Genilloud; Actinomycetes isolated from lichens:
Evaluation of their diversity and detection of biosynthetic gene sequences, FEMS Microbiology Ecology, Volume 54,
Issue 3, 1 November 2005, Pages 401–415, ​https://doi.org/10.1016/j.femsec.2005.05.004
on plastic materials5. Researchers from the United Kingdom have found that these plastic
“eating” microbes utilized an enzyme to break down the plastic material into useful materials.
The bacteria is called ​Ideonella sakaiensis​ which utilizes PET (polyethylene terephthalate) as its
major energy and carbon source6. The photo shown above, displays a colony of ​Ideonella
sakaiensis​ growing on a strip of PET. This colony has actually formed a biofilm on the plastic
strip; indicating digestion and adherence of the plastic. Researchers developed a new enzyme
that increases the rate of plastic decomposition to just days. This process of microbial growth
coupled with this new enzymatic action effectively removes plastic waste from the environment
of the microbes. This type of technology has huge implications when addressing complex and
large congregations of plastic waste such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. There, millions
and millions of plastic trash creates the largest flotsam in existence. A specialized microbe
capable of breaking down this waste would be a better more efficient way to address this vast
problem; instead of physically picking pieces of plastic from the ocean. While these microbes
effectively remove the plastic material from our environment physically, the chemicals used to
produce the plastic are still present in the microbes and their surrounding environment. Due to
this fact, it should be noted that using microbes to completely eliminate plastic materials
overlooks the role that microbes play as energy sources in the food chain. As more microbes
break down and consume plastic waste material, more chemicals accumulate in the cells and
environment. As larger consumer organisms intake these microbes they can absorb more
plastic chemicals; resulting in the top consumers containing high levels of plastic chemicals.
This process is known as bioaccumulation. While removing plastic waste from our environment
is a good goal; preventing entry through sustainable design the first time is a better goal.
An interesting comparison between lichen and these plastic eating bacteria can be
made. Lichens are the first organisms to begin conquering the harsh environment of the silica
based rocks; and after they’ve expired providing key nutrients for other plants to grow. These
plastic eating bacteria could potentially cause a similar effect by conquering the harsh petroleum
based environment and providing key nutrients for other organisms to exploit plastic waste. I
would like to learn more about the bioremediation of plastic and how we utilize enzymes in this
way to achieve bioremediation effects. Is this enzyme specific to these plastic degrading
microbes? This study was published in 2016, why have scientists not spliced this plastic
degrading gene or enzyme formation into other common cells? Is the enzyme the only part
required to break down the plastic material? How greatly does the temperature change the rate
of enzymatic activity? How do these microbes resist or cope with the harsh chemicals found in
most plastics? Should we be concerned over microbes exploiting plastic as a new material for
growth that we constantly find ourselves in contact with everyday? How do we distinguish
between mutualism and parasitism? In what interesting ways can symbiotic relationships exist to
exploit nutritional niches?

5
​Feeding on plastic, Uwe T. Bornscheuer, Science Mar 11 2016, 1154-1155
6
​ bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate), Shosuke Yoshida, Kazumi Hiraga,
A
Toshihiko Takehana, Ikuo Taniguchi, Hironao Yamaji, Yasuhito Maeda, Kiyotsuna Toyohara, Kenji Miyamoto,
Yoshiharu Kimura, Kohei Oda Science11 Mar 2016 : 1196-1199