In a Time of Change: Microbial Worlds
Microbial Worlds is the culmination of 16 months of collaborative work by visual artists, writers, and scientists on the topic of microorganisms. Microbes are the most numerous and diverse organisms on the planet; they include bacteria, fungi, protozoa, algae and viruses. While some cause disease and contribute to climate change, others are responsible for promoting human health, removing toxins from the environment, and maintaining healthy ecosystems.
ITOC: Microbial Worlds website
ITOC: Microbial Worlds website
Interconnected
Medium: Digital photographs via microscope ocular with overlays printed on aluminum
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir
In this series I explore a few ideas and interconnections between microbial worlds and larger systems. We are all connected on this planet through the natural world and one of the primary components of those connections are those we cannot see unaided.
Invisible communication pathways:
Forests + spores collected from arctic willow leaf fungus
Plants communicate with each other through common mycorrhizal networks through a complex, diverse and symbiotic processes that can involve carbon, chemicals, fungi, and bacteria. One of the key discoveries is that although plants compete for resources like light and nutrients between individuals and species, they also share resources with one another when under stress.
There are many many recent journal articles and books written on this subject. Here are reference to a couple:
Collaborative interactions:
Community + slime mold harvested on Ester Dome
Slime Molds are single cellular organisms that can fuse together to form larger versions of themselves with multiple nuclei and then break apart into single cells again. They can also morph their cellular shape and locomotion method depending on conditions. They don’t have a nervous system but are able to communicate with other cells about a previous experience. In this way, they question our fundamental understanding of cognition and the learning process. What can we, in turn, learn from slime mold information processing, cooperation, adaptability, decision making, and communication and how can we use this information in fields such as medicine and bioengineering?
Influences on human behavior (toxoplasmosis):
Cat + bacteria grown from pet water sample
This sample may or may not contain the single cell parasite Toxoplasmosis gondii, which can be transmitted through animal feces, cats specifically, and has been shown to have subtle effects on human behavior. The CDC estimates that more than 60 million people in the U.S. may be infected with this parasite. I have always had cats so I am likely doomed. Luckily, people with healthy immune systems usually don’t have any symptoms. Much hype and hilarity was made of cats controlling their human’s behavior when this research originally came out. But what I would like to know is what other microbes out there are influencing our behaviors that we don’t know about yet?
Global transport of microbes:
Migration + bacteria grown from dental floss after eating duck for dinner
The idea with this connection is that we are what we eat, including migratory birds, who travel and live in far places in the world. What they eat when they are halfway across the world influences their microbiome, which, in turn, can potentially affect ours when we hunt, pluck, consume them. We can come into contact with microbial communities that are far flung in unexpected ways.
Food security and forest decomposition:
Squirrel + gill detail from fungus from the boreal forest
Fungus is an important decomposer in the boreal forests as part of the regenerative cycle. It is also part of the food web itself for animals and humans, providing the same micronutrients that help foster a healthy forest ecosystem.
Transmission of information:
Hands + bacteria grown from finger swab
Go wash your hands often and well. This is a reminder. Seriously, Norovirus and C.difficile, for example, are not removed through using hand sanitizer: http://infectioncontrol.tips/2015/12/08/1210/
Personal communications:
Humans + bacteria grown from underarm swab
I find it fascinating that we share so much with our partners, our spouses, our family members. Our homes are large petri dishes full of microbes that we share with others in our household. And I wonder if it makes us more whole somehow, more complete, more sharing a deeper unseen experience together of being human.
Food web, water security, and climate change:
Trout + zoo/phytoplankton from arctic lake samples
The background image was taken from water samples at Toolik Lake, Alaska and show phytoplankton and zooplankton, including a copepod. Fish is an important food source for humans but when you look closely at what they are eating, they are just one part of a much larger food web. Investigations on the ecosystems and influences upon them can help us understand ...
such as changing habitat conditions like temperature and precipitation, the introduction of chemical compound byproducts of industrialization, evolving geographic environments due to regular earth movement.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir
In this series I explore a few ideas and interconnections between microbial worlds and larger systems. We are all connected on this planet through the natural world and one of the primary components of those connections are those we cannot see unaided.
Invisible communication pathways:
Forests + spores collected from arctic willow leaf fungus
Plants communicate with each other through common mycorrhizal networks through a complex, diverse and symbiotic processes that can involve carbon, chemicals, fungi, and bacteria. One of the key discoveries is that although plants compete for resources like light and nutrients between individuals and species, they also share resources with one another when under stress.
There are many many recent journal articles and books written on this subject. Here are reference to a couple:
- Mycorrhizal networks in ecosystem structure and functioning. In Functional Ecology, Field K., ed. https://goo.gl/Vj1FbX
- Gorzelak MA, Asay AK, Pickles BJ, Simard SW. 2015. Inter-plant communication through mycorrhizal networks mediates complex adaptive behaviour in plant communities. AoB Plants. doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plv050 https://goo.gl/iBn9jV
Collaborative interactions:
Community + slime mold harvested on Ester Dome
Slime Molds are single cellular organisms that can fuse together to form larger versions of themselves with multiple nuclei and then break apart into single cells again. They can also morph their cellular shape and locomotion method depending on conditions. They don’t have a nervous system but are able to communicate with other cells about a previous experience. In this way, they question our fundamental understanding of cognition and the learning process. What can we, in turn, learn from slime mold information processing, cooperation, adaptability, decision making, and communication and how can we use this information in fields such as medicine and bioengineering?
- Reid CR, MacDonald H, Mann RP, Marshall JAR, Latty T, Garnier S. 2016. Decision-making without a brain: how an amoeboid organism solves the two-armed bandit. J R Soc Interface. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2016.0030 https://goo.gl/ccff4E
- Whiting JGH, Jones J, Bull L, Levin M, Adamatzky A. 2016. Towards a Physarum learning chip. Sci Rep. doi: 10.1038/srep19948 https://goo.gl/J3OVHl
- Reid CR, Latty T, Dussutour A, Beekman M. 2012. Slime mold uses an externalized spatial “memory” to navigate in complex environments. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . doi: 10.1073/pnas.1215037109 https://goo.gl/h6O7Sr
Influences on human behavior (toxoplasmosis):
Cat + bacteria grown from pet water sample
This sample may or may not contain the single cell parasite Toxoplasmosis gondii, which can be transmitted through animal feces, cats specifically, and has been shown to have subtle effects on human behavior. The CDC estimates that more than 60 million people in the U.S. may be infected with this parasite. I have always had cats so I am likely doomed. Luckily, people with healthy immune systems usually don’t have any symptoms. Much hype and hilarity was made of cats controlling their human’s behavior when this research originally came out. But what I would like to know is what other microbes out there are influencing our behaviors that we don’t know about yet?
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/toxoplasmosis/
- Flegr J. 2007. Effects of Toxoplasma on Human Behavior. Schizophr Bull. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbl074 https://goo.gl/NHmryw
- Costa da Silva R, Langoni H. 2009. Toxoplasma gondii: host-parasite interaction and behavior manipulation. Parasitology Research. doi:10.1007/s00436-009-1526-6 https://goo.gl/U5Qoqk
Global transport of microbes:
Migration + bacteria grown from dental floss after eating duck for dinner
The idea with this connection is that we are what we eat, including migratory birds, who travel and live in far places in the world. What they eat when they are halfway across the world influences their microbiome, which, in turn, can potentially affect ours when we hunt, pluck, consume them. We can come into contact with microbial communities that are far flung in unexpected ways.
Food security and forest decomposition:
Squirrel + gill detail from fungus from the boreal forest
Fungus is an important decomposer in the boreal forests as part of the regenerative cycle. It is also part of the food web itself for animals and humans, providing the same micronutrients that help foster a healthy forest ecosystem.
Transmission of information:
Hands + bacteria grown from finger swab
Go wash your hands often and well. This is a reminder. Seriously, Norovirus and C.difficile, for example, are not removed through using hand sanitizer: http://infectioncontrol.tips/2015/12/08/1210/
Personal communications:
Humans + bacteria grown from underarm swab
I find it fascinating that we share so much with our partners, our spouses, our family members. Our homes are large petri dishes full of microbes that we share with others in our household. And I wonder if it makes us more whole somehow, more complete, more sharing a deeper unseen experience together of being human.
Food web, water security, and climate change:
Trout + zoo/phytoplankton from arctic lake samples
The background image was taken from water samples at Toolik Lake, Alaska and show phytoplankton and zooplankton, including a copepod. Fish is an important food source for humans but when you look closely at what they are eating, they are just one part of a much larger food web. Investigations on the ecosystems and influences upon them can help us understand ...
such as changing habitat conditions like temperature and precipitation, the introduction of chemical compound byproducts of industrialization, evolving geographic environments due to regular earth movement.
Images from this project
The Fire Starter
Medium: merino wool, silk, amadou from local Fomes fomentarius, Viking style steel & flint (Russian), buttons
Fungi, although they can be very large in size, are characterized as a microbial organism due to their cellular structure and function.
Fomes fomentarius is known commonly as the tinder polymore, tinder fungus, hoof fungus and tinder conk. It is a common plant parasite that lives on the bark of birch and beech trees throughout the world. It is an important component of the forest ecosystem because when a tree dies, it encourages the production of a white rot, thus initiating the process of decomposition. Traditionally, people have used parts of this fungus for a wide variety of purposes including clothing, as a tobacco substitute, pin cushions, as a drying mechanism for fly fishing, mounting insects, starting fires, and in rituals to clear evil spirits. It has been used medicinally as an anti-inflammatory, diuretic, laxative, calming tonic, to fight tuberculosis, for teeth drying in dentistry, and wound staunching during surgery. In Chinese medicine, it is used for the treatment of throat, stomach and uterine cancers. There have been recent studies that show bioactive substances extracted from Fomes fomentarius are successful anti-tumor agents.(4) There may also be potential for it’s use to enhance circulation, regulate blood sugar and lower blood pressure.
‘Amadou’ is the layer useful for making tinder, and many of the purposes listed above. It is used by modern day woods crafters and was found in a fire starter kit on mummified human remains dating from around 3,300 BC. It is also currently used in Romanian folk art hat and purse making.
Echnomycologist Robert Blanchette (University of Minnesota) was instrumental in my inspiration for this project as was Mako Csaba, a traditional amadou hat maker in Romania. Thanks also to A Weaver’s Yarn.
References
Papp, N., Rudolf, K., Bencsik, T. et al. (2015) Ethnomycological use of Fomes fomentarius (L.) Fr. and Piptoporus betulinus (Bull.) P. Karst. in Transylvania, Romania Genetic Resources Crop Evolution. doi:10.1007/s10722-015-0335-2
- Roussel B, Rapier S, Charlot C, Masson CL, Boutié P (2002) History of the therapeutic uses of the tinder polypore, Fomes fomentarius (L.: Fr). Rev Hist Pharm (Paris) 50: 599–614.
- Aoki M, Tan M, Fukushima A (1993) Antiviral substances with systemic effects produced by Basidiomycetes such as Fomes fomentarius. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 57: 278–82.
- Chen W, Zhao Z, Li L, Wu B, Chen SF, et al. (2008) Hispolon induces apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells through a ROS-mediated mitochondrial pathway. Free Radical Bio Med 45: 60–72.
- Chen W, Zhao Z, Li YQ (2011) Simultaneous increase of mycelial biomass and intracellular polysaccharide from Fomes fomentarius and its biological function of gastric cancer intervention. Carbohyd Polym 85: 369–375.
- Seniuk OF, Gorovoj LF, Beketova GV, Savichuk HO, Rytik PG, et al. (2011) Anti-infective properties of the melanin glucan complex obtained from medicinal tinder bracket mushroom, Fomes fomentarius (L.Fr.) Fr. (Aphyllophoromycetideae). Int J Med Mushrooms 13: 7–18.
Water is Life
Medium: Alaska North Slope crude oil, graphite, oil paint, acrylics, gold leaf
Over time, hydrocarbons, such as crude oil, are partially degraded by a number of specific species of bacteria that occur naturally in the environment. This was observed recently in the Deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico where a few ‘nutritionally diverse’ bacteria types increased in population density in the spill area. Studies have shown that the bacteria populations present in warm waters vs cold waters differ in both species, concentration, and behavior due to multiple environmental factors and there are fewer available bacteria populations in the cold water. As Alaska becomes more involved with offshore oil development, of particular interest to both environmentalists and oil companies is the viability of utilizing natural response mechanisms such as oil eating bacteria in addition to chemical dispersants to mitigate spill damage. While the biodegradation process does actively occur in arctic waters, there are significant additional challenges not present elsewhere, such as extreme cold, winter storm activity, sea ice cover and it’s movement, and very remote locations that add greatly to the complexity of the issue.
This work explores biodegradation of Alaska crude oil in the Arctic Ocean by a limited number of bacteria species. Microbiologist Mary Beth Leigh was instrumental in my inspiration for this project as was work by others on the Committee on Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment, National Research Council. Special thanks to British Petroleum.
Over time, hydrocarbons, such as crude oil, are partially degraded by a number of specific species of bacteria that occur naturally in the environment. This was observed recently in the Deep Water Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico where a few ‘nutritionally diverse’ bacteria types increased in population density in the spill area. Studies have shown that the bacteria populations present in warm waters vs cold waters differ in both species, concentration, and behavior due to multiple environmental factors and there are fewer available bacteria populations in the cold water. As Alaska becomes more involved with offshore oil development, of particular interest to both environmentalists and oil companies is the viability of utilizing natural response mechanisms such as oil eating bacteria in addition to chemical dispersants to mitigate spill damage. While the biodegradation process does actively occur in arctic waters, there are significant additional challenges not present elsewhere, such as extreme cold, winter storm activity, sea ice cover and it’s movement, and very remote locations that add greatly to the complexity of the issue.
This work explores biodegradation of Alaska crude oil in the Arctic Ocean by a limited number of bacteria species. Microbiologist Mary Beth Leigh was instrumental in my inspiration for this project as was work by others on the Committee on Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment, National Research Council. Special thanks to British Petroleum.
