In the video we learned about the current state of knowledge about the diversity and important of microbes, new scientific methods, and the way microbes have been studied in Finnish nature.
The clip comes with subtitles in English. Just click play, select the gear icon on the lower right and select subtitles in English.
Read more about the biodiversity of microbes
Read more about Finnish scientific studies that shed light on the diversity of microbes in nature and its importance for humans.
-
Diversity of viruses of Plantago in Åland islands.
Orignal article • Yle news article on the research (in Finnish)
Susi H, Filloux D, Frilander MJ, Roumagnac P, Laine A. 2019. Diverse and variable virus communities in wild plant populations revealed by metagenomic tools. PeerJ 7:e6140 DOI:10.7717/peerj.6140 -
Skin microbiota differs in children and teenagers between rural and urban environments
Original article • Yle news article on the research (in Finnish)
Lehtimäki, J., ym. 2017. Patterns in the skin microbiota differ in children and teenagers between rural and urban environments. Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 45651. DOI:10.1038/srep45651
Find out
Micorbes are difficult to see, and the most modern methods that scientists use to see them are so far only available to professional laboratories. But good oll petri dish culturing is still a good way to see microbes. To see the how microbe communities work, we can use computer simulations.
How fast do bacteria reproduce?
The speed at which bacteria reproduce is due to their ability to divide. One cell divides into two, which divide into four and so on. This is called exponential growth. Imagine that a single bacterial cell is transferred from your phone screen to your finger, and from there to your nose. The nose is a perfect environment. Now the cell divides every 20 minutes. How many bacteria are there in your nose 24 hours later? How long does it take to get to a million bacteria?
Culture microbes in a petri dish
You will need petri dishes, which schools can purchase in bulk. The petri dish contains a solid growth medium that is suitable for a lot of different bacteria. In every experiment you will add something to the dish, then replace the lid and incubate the dishes upside down for a few days at +37 degrees Celsius (or as close to that as possible).
Plant disease herbarium
Put together a herbarium (a collection of plant samples), focusing on plants that are showing symptoms of plant diseases. When collecting samples, keep a log of the places and dates of collection. Examples of plant disease symptoms can be found e.g. here ja here. Look up some photos before you go out collecting, so you have some idea of what you are looking for.
Typical symptoms of fungus infections in plants are growths on the plant surface, colour changes and deformities. Recognising plant diseases is not easy because deformities and colour changes can also be caused by a lack of nutrients – don’t worry if some of those end up in you collection, too. Don’t be afraid to collect samples that you don’t recognize – maybe someone else will identify them later!
What did you notice in making the collection? Did you find diseases in particular places? Was there a difference between different diseases – are some diseases on almost every plant and others only here and there?
Yhteenveto artikkelista “Diverse and variable virus communities in wild plant populations revealed by metagenomic tools”
Kasvien sisällä ja pinnalla elää monimuotoinen kokoelma mikrobeja, ja osan niistä on patogeenejä eli taudinaiheuttajia. Ymmärryksemme kasvien patogeeneistä viljelyskasveilla ja laboratoriokasveilla on lisääntynyt viime vuosina uusien sekvensointiteknologioiden myötä, mutta paljon vähemmän tiedetään luonnon kasvipatogeeneistä. Sekvensoimalla kasvinäytteestä virusten RNAn, voimme nyt löytää viruksia villeistä isäntäkasveista.
Tutkimme heinäratamon viruksia Ahvenanmaalla RNA-sekvensoinnin avulla. Ahvenanmaan heinäratamo ja sillä elävä täpläverkkoperhonen ovat olleet vuosikymmenien ajan tärkeä malliyhteisö, jota tutkijat ovat käyttäneet monien ekologisten ilmiöiden tutkimuksessa. Viidestä yleisimmästä löytämästämme viruksesta selvitimme levinneisyyttä, yhdessä tai erikseen esiintymistä ja yhteyttä näkyviin kasvien oireisiin.
Löysimme yhden aiemmin tunnetun viruksen lisäksi neljä mahdollisesti tieteelle uutta virusta. Tuloksistamme näkyy, että virusten yleisyys ja monimoúotoisuus vaihtelee Ahvenanmaan eri alueiden välillä. Näkyvästi oirehtivat kasvit kantoivat yleensä virusta, mutta viruksia löytyi myös oireettomista kasveista.
Jatkotutkimuksissa olisi mielenkiintoista tarkastella, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat erilaisiin virusten monimuotoisuustasoihin eri alueiden välillä. Mahdollisesti löytämiemme uusien virusten määrityksen varmistaminen edellyttäisi niiden koko genomin sekvensointia.
Susi H, Filloux D, Frilander MJ, Roumagnac P, Laine A. 2019. Diverse and variable virus communities in wild plant populations revealed by
metagenomic tools. PeerJ 7:e6140 DOI:10.7717/peerj.6140