{"id":2847,"date":"2023-11-19T12:03:36","date_gmt":"2023-11-19T20:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/?p=2847"},"modified":"2025-09-17T11:25:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T18:25:38","slug":"streptomyces-whats-not-to-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/gardenecologylab\/2023\/11\/19\/streptomyces-whats-not-to-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Streptomyces: what\u2019s not to love?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u00a9 Jones\u00a0et al\/eLife\u00a0under\u00a0CC BY 4.0<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live in a world where we\u2019re recognizing and discovering an ever-more complex and interwoven web of life\u2014this vast ecology of our planet. We can see that life has taken many different routes to find success, and we call these paths \u2018kingdoms\u2019: animal, plant, fungui, protist, archaea, and bacteria. While we belong to and often focus on the first kingdom\u2014that of animals\u2014we are at what is only the beginning of discovery of the benefits we can reap from those in the last kingdom; we can harness the potential of bacteria to our good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to tell you all about the bacterial genus Streptomyces<\/em><\/a>. The genus is noted for the scent of their spores. You know that smell after a rain? That\u2019s \u2018petrichor<\/a>\u2019, ancient Greek for \u2018rock\u2019 and \u2018ethereal blood of the gods.\u2019 This smell is from a mix of compounds, but a significant contributor is geosmin<\/a>, itself a by-product of the hydrophobic spores atop the aerial growth of this filamentous bacteria are launched from the earth with the force of raindrops striking the ground. The average human nose is incredibly sensitive to this chemical; we\u2019re able to notice it as faintly as three parts-per-trillion\u2014like a single drop in 40 Olympic swimming pools! Geosmin is also the reason we like the smell of freshly-dug earth, and it\u2019s responsible if there\u2019s a \u2018muddy\u2019 taste in your fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s plenty more to love than just a pleasant smell. Most of its many, varied species are found living in soils the world over. They are commonly aerobic and produce exudates which resemble mycelium-like networks throughout the substrate in which they live. These exudates and the volatile organic compounds they off-gas are created in a category called secondary metabolites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Anne van der Meij, Joost Willemse, Martinus A. Schneijderberg, Ren\u00e9 Geurts, Jos M. Raaijmakers & Gilles P. van Wezel - [1]doi:10.1007\/s10482-018-1014-z, CC BY-SA 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=94443322<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living organisms create secondary metabolites as interactions with their environment. These compounds are not strictly required for survival. Sometimes called \u2018relational\u2019 or \u2018ecological\u2019 interactions, because it\u2019s facilitating the meeting of the lifeform with the greater world. Contrast this to primary metabolites, which are required for growth, development, and reproduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Streptomyces <\/em>offers such tremendous potential<\/h2>\n\n\n\n