Which Biofilm are you?

Vibrio cholerae is found in the ocean. It forms biofilms on the shells of tiny creatures in the water. People can get really sick if they drink water that has Vibrio cholerae in it. This happened most recently in Haiti (2010) after an earthquake disrupted normal water cleanup processes and Vibrio cholerae microbes made it to the water supply from a rescue camp. 

Did you know that women in southeast Asia use their Saris (traditional clothing) to strain the water and remove the tiny sea creatures that carry Vibrio cholerae? This has helped lower the number of people getting sick with cholera in that region of the world. 

Bacillus subtilis lives in the dirt. It lives side by side with plants, fungi, and other bacteria. Bacillus subtilis is completely harmless to humans, and scientists love to use it to study biofilms! Bacillus subtilis has a double personality: It can grow and divide, or it can form seed-like structures called spores that can survive in the absence of water and food. Bacillus subtilis was one of the first microbes to be studied in the space station. 

Staphylococcus aureus (which means “golden grape-like clusters” in Latin) lives in 1 out of every 3 people’s noses! Staph aureus is usually harmless, but some people get really sick from it. It can cause disease in people’s skin, blood, lungs, bones, and almost any other part of the body. It forms smaller microbial cities than other microbes, but it is very hardy and difficult to get rid of. 

Geobacter bacteria live deep underground and in fresh water sludge, where it swims around the soil to find and eat metals! In 2009 Geobacter was named the Invention Microbe of the year since it generates electricity from eating metals! “Plant Lamps” use Geobacters as an energy source to light up houses in Peru and close to the Amazon Rainforest!

E. coli is a famous bacterium that likes to be in the news! It lives inside farm animals and people.  There are lots of different types of E. coli – no two are alike! Some types make people sick when they get into hamburger and lettuce. Other types make people sick by causing urinary tract infection, the disease that makes you want to go to the bathroom all the time. E. coli is the most common creature studied by scientists in the lab. What all E. coli have in common is that they stick well to all types of places! The microbial city is like a fort! It prevents things from entering it, like antibiotics.
  

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium that loves both soil and water and can be found in both. It is the bug that causes cause swimmer’s ear when it gets in people’s ears in swimming pools and hot tubs. These bacteria make a green colored substance that makes them look green. They smell like like grapes!

Did you know that Pseudomonas bacteria can spear and kill their neighboring microbes by using a super small poisonous “dart”? 

These microbial cities are made up of many types of bacteria that work together! They can be found almost everywhere, from the soil to the water and even the insides of you and me! The picture shows you different colored microbes forming a microbe city together. The colors you see are not real. Scientists can make microbes glow so that they can take their pictures. Did you know that there is a whole group in Montana State University that the only things they study are microbial cities??