toxicodendron radicansAug 29, 2018

Petrichor, that fresh aroma you can smell after the rain, is caused by a little molecule called geosmin. The name literally means "earth smell." It's produced by soil bacteria and gives an earthy flavour to beets.

Humans are extremely sensitive to this scent – much, much more sensitive than sharks are to blood. Some think we evolved that way to find fresh drinking water after droughts.

Show threadDr. Kai BlinSep 4, 2018
@InvaderXan It's produced by the bacteria I work with (Streptomyces). They also produce this when growing in incubators. Much nicer to work with than smelly E. coli or Bacillus. 😀
Show threadtoxicodendron radicansSep 4, 2018
@kblin It must be so nice to work with fragrant bacteria! 😬
Show threadDr. Kai BlinSep 4, 2018
@InvaderXan To be fair, we work with them because they're great sources many interesting molecules that we're hoping to turn into new antibiotics. ~70 % of the antibiotics in use today originate from Streptomyces bacteria or close relatives. The nice smell is welcome, but a side effect. 😉
Show threadtoxicodendron radicansSep 4, 2018
@kblin Oh interesting! Looking to find things which won't be affected by the impending antibiotic crisis, I take it? I didn't realise so many of them originated in so few actual organisms.
Show threadDr. Kai BlinSep 4, 2018
@InvaderXan Antibiotics and resistance will always be an arms race. Microorganisms have been playing this game forever, long before humans discovered antibiotics. But yes, we're trying to find something that works against some of the most dangerous multi-resistant bacteria, to keep up our side of the game.
Show threadDr. Kai Blin
@InvaderXan The most famous antibiotic (penicillin) was discovered in a mold fungus. But quite a bunch of the other ones come from a small family of bacteria that seem to have a very inventive biochemistry.
I'm biased, of course, but I think it's a super interesting research topic.
Sep 4, 2018 at 9:37pmWeb
Show threadtoxicodendron radicansSep 4, 2018
@kblin Very interesting IMO!