Cyanobacteria bloom complexity: viral contribution

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Viruses are usually overlooked in reef discussions, and that may mean we miss a big part of the puzzle:

Science | AAAS

www.science.org

 

[sixty_reefer]

Viruses are usually overlooked in reef discussions, and that may mean we miss a big part of the puzzle:

Science | AAAS

www.science.org

It was a interesting read thank you for sharing it, I didn’t realise that Cyanobacteria could use both atmospheric nitrogen and dissolved nitrogen. Unless I’ve misinterpreted the literature

 

[HuduVudu]

Human beings seem of all things to be enamored with centralization. We love pictures of fore reefs in Australia and we try to emulate them by creating just them. Never wondering if there is support that is happening to make this specialized type of biome. We think we are smart enough as central planners to perfectly provide all that is needed to emulate the diversity that we see and call beautiful. The dark spectre of effeciancy rears it's ugly head in our minds and we turn quickly away from the messiness of decentralization. Surely we don't really need 15,000 copies of the Bitcoin ledger, when one trusted source will do. Surely we can ascertain and then implement only the strains of bacteria that are necessary for a functioning salt water aquarium. I can process 1000 widgets a second in my job surely I am much more useful and better than my cowoker who can only process 900.

Perhaps we sense diversity is good thing. Then we centrally plan it to ensure it's existence only to miss the forest for the trees because we decided that skin color or orientation or some other thing will be the focus of our centralization efforts. We completely miss the point that even when we want it we can't force diversity, only encourage it and we won't be the final arbiters of what will diversify. Everything will ultimately diversify but based on what factors and to what extent will be unknown to us.

People think I am crazy and they are probably right but more and more in this world I am moving away from the efficency of centralization and embracing the messiness of decentralization. Maybe a few more will join my insanity so that we can get some of the tougher problems solved.

 

[Hans-Werner]

Some might smile when reading through this: "The results suggest that reducing nutrients may not be enough to stop these slimy explosions, some scientists say."

Even if we would know more about phages and their roles, it would still be a long way to manage them, I guess ...

 

[sixty_reefer]

Some might smile when reading through this: "The results suggest that reducing nutrients may not be enough to stop these slimy explosions, some scientists say."

Even if we would know more about phages and their roles, it would still be a long way to manage them, I guess ...

We highly dependent of farming, most of the nitrogen and phosphorus that reaches the ocean will be due to agriculture. From what I read a large percentage of fertilisers used will end up in rivers, lakes and oceans. This by effect will created most likely nutrient unbalances similar to the ones we see in our tanks in all those ecosystems.

 

[HuduVudu]

@sixty_reefer "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." Whenever man touches something he changes it like a universal Heisenberg. What then is man to do if all that he touches he changes, nevering knowing if the fish in the blacked out aquarium is dead already or dead from him opening the poisoned lid. Must he roll over into the primordial soup and give up on his tinkering, his life? I don't believe this to be necessary. I think it is more important to find and implement based on reason with the explicit understanding that we are not creatures of omniscience. Always there will be the unknown unknowns. Knowing they are there gives us great insight into the fact the that there will be unintended consequences. Reality is the final arbiter, but not the guiding light.

Oil brings solutions to problems but creates new problems. Work to solve those new unforeseen problems. Work to find new solutions. Leave the debate open encourage open expression of ideas do not allow gatekeepers to hinder ideas. Allow new radical hearasy to infect the debate. Let the wrong infiltrate the discussion. Let the mutuation of ideas begin their inevitable clarification.

Let the wager show the truth:

Simon–Ehrlich wager - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Just like @Paul B didn't just fall to the top of the mountain of a "disease free" (sic) aquarium neither will we survive as a species by holding things in stasis, reality just won't allow it.

 

[Dan_P]

Viruses are usually overlooked in reef discussions, and that may mean we miss a big part of the puzzle:

Science | AAAS

www.science.org

Thanks. This was an interesting finding and a reminder that controlling microorganism growth may take more than tweaking nitrate and phosphate concentrations, no matter how much we want to believe in it

 

[Hans-Werner]

I want to push this interesting thread up by adding an anecdote: Some time ago I saw a documentary in tv on healing infectious wounds with phages. I will try to remember and tell everything correct.

A Russian clinic uses a therapy with phages to heal non-healing wounds infected with MDR (multi-drug-resistant) bacteria. After the patients arrive in the clinic a culture of the MDR bacteria is taken. After some growth the culture is infected with phages, maybe it was a phage mix. The phages that are able to infect the MDR bacteria from the wound are multiplied by the bacteria. The released phages are transferred to the wound to infect and kill the infectious MDR bacteria and to make wound healing possible.

The rate of success was reported to be high, but I think also the effort.

I have also found an article on this topic.

This is a principal approach in using phages for bacteria management. But: Where to get phages against our cyanobacteria?

 

[ReefGeezer]

I want to push this interesting thread up by adding an anecdote: Some time ago I saw a documentary in tv on healing infectious wounds with phages. I will try to remember and tell everything correct.

A Russian clinic uses a therapy with phages to heal non-healing wounds infected with MDR (multi-drug-resistant) bacteria. After the patients arrive in the clinic a culture of the MDR bacteria is taken. After some growth the culture is infected with phages, maybe it was a phage mix. The phages that are able to infect the MDR bacteria from the wound are multiplied by the bacteria. The released phages are transferred to the wound to infect and kill the infectious MDR bacteria and to make wound healing possible.

The rate of success was reported to be high, but I think also the effort.

I have also found an article on this topic.

This is a principal approach in using phages for bacteria management. But: Where to get phages against our cyanobacteria?

I've got a Cyano culture that's volunteering for research!