MICRO-C-OMICS #12: Lets Exchange Some Products

There are many ways microorganisms can interact. One way is by exchanging their (by)products, that is each organism can use the other’s by(product) as a resource for its own growth and energy, making it a mutually beneficial business. The example I used in today’s comic is inspired by Koch et al. (2015) . This study, based on genomic and experimental data, reported an unexpected role for the nitrite eating bacteria (called Nitrite Oxidizers) and how this new role affects their interactions with the ammonia eating bacteria (called Ammonia Oxidizers). When ammonia oxidizing bacteria eat ammonia, they produce nitrite as a result. And this nitrite is used by nitrite oxidizing bacteria. But what is new is that nitrite oxidizing bacteria have a way to ensure the production of more nitrite by the ammonia oxidizers: Nitrite oxidizers can process urea present in the environment and as a result produce ammonia. Guess who will use this alternatively produced ammonia? Ammonia oxidizers again… to produce nitrite. No one is hungry, everyone is happy. Discovering such new interactions are not only important to understand Earth’s biogeochemical cycles and maintain ecological balance, but also important for wastewater treatment, agricultural practices, etc. Reference: Koch et al. (2015) Expanded metabolic versatility of ubiquitous nitrite-oxidizing bacteria from the genus Nitrospira. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Sep 8; 112(36): 11371–11376

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