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Penicillium cheresanum (left) and Penicillium verrucosum var. cyclopium (right)

Penicillium is a genus of molds, some species of which are known for producing penicillin antibiotics, while others are used in producing cheese. This genus currently contains about 470 accepted species (as listed by the Wikipedia page).

Photo credit: University of Adelaide

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Merismopedia elegans

Photo credit: Jason Oyadomari/Keweenaw Algae

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Pseudomonas mediterranea

Photo credit: @cytochrome-sea on Tumblr

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Flavobacterium columnare is the Dancing Queen. 😉

Perhaps it is

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And with yesterday's post, we've officially run out of queued posts and are now caught up with the Instagram account.

That means you will now unfortunately be subject to my ADHD and inconsistent posts, hypothetically every Tuesday and Thursday.

But maybe I can find other things to post here, if you guys are interested and/or have ideas. Maybe fun facts or poll quizzes, we'll see.

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Blepharisma americana

Photo credit: Gerd Guenther/Science Photo Library

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Wolbachia pipientis

As many as 25-70% of insect species are suspected to be carriers of some species of Wolbachia bacteria, which can affect their reproductive capabilities in one of four ways.

One way is that in some species, Wolbachia infection is able to induce parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction in which an embryo can form from an unfertilized egg. Certain species within the Trichogramma parasitoid wasp genus have evolved to reproduce without males thanks to Wolbachia. Males are rare in the genus, possibly due to them being killed by the same bacteria.

Wolbachia infections in some fly and mosquito species have been linked to resistance to RNA viruses such as norovirus, West Nile virus, and Drosophila C virus.

Photo credit: El Hadji Amadou Niang

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Acanthamoeba sp.

Photo credit: Jacob Lorenzo-Morales, Naveed A. Khan, and Julia Walochnik

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Idoenella sakaiensis

Idoenella sakaiensis is a species of bacteria known for feeding on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics.

Photo credit: Kohei Oda, Kyoto Institute of Technology

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Deinococcus radiodurans

This species is known by the Guinness Book Of World Records in 1998 as the world's toughest known bacterium. It is capable of surviving cold, dehydration, vacuum, acid, space, and 5,000 grays (500,000 rads) of ionizing radiation, making it a polyextremophile.

Photo credit: U.S. government employee work; public domain. Multiple laboratories credited and every source is a dead link.

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Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is a type of bacteria with many known strains that have become resistant to antibiotics. Methicillin resistance (MRSA), vancomycin intermediate resistance (VISA), and vancomycin resistance (VRSA) are some examples of strains that are partially or fully resistant to antibiotics, making them major concerns in hospitals. It's estimated that only 2% of S. aureus strains are sensitive to penicillin antibiotics.

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Karenia brevis

Photo credit: (Davis) G. Hansen et Moestrup 2000 (Gymnodinium breve Davis, 1948; Ptychodiscus brevis (Davis) Steidinger 1979) / Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

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Cyanidium sp.

Photo credit: Wikipedia user NEON

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Cochlodinium polykrikoides (aka Margalefidinium polykrikoides)

This marine species of dinoflagellate is known for producing red tides that can cause fish kills.

Photo credit: Jan Rines

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Mesodinium rubrum

Photo credit: Michael Plewka

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this blog is the best one ever made

<3

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Noctiluca scintillans

These marine dinoflagellates are known for their bioluminescence that causes the sea sparkle phenomenon of glowing blue tides at night. However, large blooms can also cause toxic red tides.

Photo credit: D P Wilson