Marine Microbiology~

When attending Marine Microbiology class last week, i grabbed a few points that really catch my attention in Marine fields. For me, if you really are interested in continuing your study in Marine biotechnology, you should have this sort of information in your mind.

1)Major Challenge in Marine Microbiology:
-History:

• John Hobbie kept trying to isolate and found only few varieties in bacteria. After been doing it over and over, he tries a new method where he cultured the bacteria and add a fluorescent dye (DAPI) that bind specifically to ds-DNA and observed them under UV light.

• Later, he found so many cells that resembles stars in UV lights. This shows a large varieties in bacteria species. However, he cant culture most of them.
• Later on, Rita Colwell came up with the term concept "viable but non-culturable" as the bacterias are hardly cultured
• People tend to believe that the most important bacteria that may produce something that are beneficial for human is the one that we hardly cultures.

" About 80% of marine microbes still cant be cultivated in lab just yet"
This is due to the unsuitable media or nutrients, methodology in cultivating them and so on..
These can be a huge opportunities for us future scientists to develop a way to actually cultivate them in lab.

2)What is actually the role of bacteria in the seas?
- For decades, people believe that bacteria only act as "decomposer" in the sea. However in early 70's, one of famous marine biologist, Porneroy, proved that bacteria actually have a huge role in maintaining the ocean and marine environment.

-Porneroy : "In a marine environment, there are a lot of minerals due to the "sloppy feeding" by many micro and macro organisms. Therefore, the system needs a heterotrophy that has a capability to dissolves organic matter from the leftover."
Note: Sloppy Feeding = Unclean eat by marine organisms such as plankton, crabs and fishes which usually leave leftover of meats, flesh and bones.- These brought us to the findings of Heterotrophic Nanoflaggelates (HNAN). HNAN feed on bacteria cells and body mass. They are also well-known for main feeders on bacterias.
-Farouk Azam, Marine Biologist from Pakistan linked HNAN and bacteria to the aquatic food chain and introduces the Microbial Loop.

3) Link-Sink Hypothesis
-This hypothesis denote whether bacteria biomass is a link or sink to the biological system. If they are linked, they will becomes part of the food webs while if they aren't contribute to the food webs, they considered as "sink" where they will become sediments in the sea bed.

4) Registering foundation of new bacteria strains:

1. We must first be able to culture them in lab
2. Next, must identify them through their morphology, content and other factors.
3. Various Tests:

• Biochemical test
• Morphology test - Staining
  
• 16S rRNA gene seq.
• fatty acid analysis profile - GC-MS
  
• G+C content
• DNA-DNA Hybridization

After been through all those test, if no matches are found, then it is confirmed that it is a new species. We must first register them in "deposit type strain" - ATCC (USA) or DSMZ( Russia)
Next, publish the founding in International Journal Bacteria Systematic.

p/s:

1. There are huge opportunity on new findings in Marine fields because there are lot more mysteries of the ocean that needs to be discovers.
2. Methods and principle of culturing most of aquatic microbes still needs a lot of improvement because so far only 20% of total species of bacteria found in the ocean that can be cultured in the lab.
3. We must get rid of the idea that bacteria is only the decomposers but must believe that it plays large roles in marine ecology.
   
4. Finding new strains of bacteria species requires lots of effort while naming them to our own is easier said than done. It also involves lots of money in the process.

DARE TO DREAM!!!