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Janthinobacterium lividum

Species of bacterium

Summary

Species of bacterium

CCUG 2344 CIP 103349 DSM 1522 HAMBI 1919 JCM 9043 LMG 2892 NCTC 9796 VKM B-1223

  • Bacillus lividus Eisenberg 1891
  • Bacillus violaceus berolinensis Kruse 1896
  • Bacterium lividus (Eisenberg 1891) Chester 1897
  • Bacillus berolinensis Chester 1901
  • Chromobacterium lividum (Eisenberg 1891) Bergey et al. 1923
  • Chromobacterium violaceum Ford 1927
  • Chromobacterium amethystinum Breed et al. 1957
  • Chromobacterium violaceum Leifson 1956
  • Pseudomonas mephitica Claydon and Hammer 1939

Janthinobacterium lividum is an aerobic, Gram-negative, soil-dwelling bacterium that has a distinctive dark-violet (almost black) color, due to a compound called violacein, which is produced when glycerol is metabolized as a carbon source. Violacein has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties. Its antifungal properties are of particular interest, since J. lividum is found on the skin of certain amphibians, including the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus), where it prevents infection by the devastating chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis).

Etymology

The genus name, Janthinobacterium, comes from the Latin janthinus, which means "violet" or "violet-blue" + bacterium, which means rod or staff. The species name is also from the Latin, lividum, which means "of a blue or leaden color".

Antifungal properties

This bacterium produces antifungal compounds, such as indole-3-carboxaldehyde and violacein.

Resistance to ''B. dendrobatidis''

J. lividum inhibits the toxic effect and growth of the fungal genus Batrachochytrium. This fungus causes a disease known as chytridiomycosis in amphibians. It is contributing to the massive declines of amphibians around the world, so understanding the uses of these bacteria has been of major interest.

A study conducted in 2009 explored the effects of Bd and the use of J. lividium in the lab for survival. The three experimental treatments were: frogs infected with Bd, frogs given the bacterium J. lividium, and frogs with the given bacterium and then exposed to Bd. Nearly all of the frogs exposed to Bd alone experienced mortality, while none of the other treatments had any deaths. This effectively introduced the use of J. lividium as a possible method for Bd prevention in the lab setting.

Textile dyeing

The pigment produced by J. lividum is also being used to colour textile. The biodegradable pigment could be an alternative to synthetic textile dyes that contain harmful chemicals and heavy metals.

References

References

  1. (2008). "Reclassification of ''Pseudomonas mephitica'' Claydon and Hammer 1939 as a later heterotypic synonym of ''Janthinobacterium lividum'' (Eisenberg 1891) De Ley ''et al''. 1978". Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol..
  2. (2007). "Violacein and biofilm production in Janthinobacterium lividum". J Appl Microbiol.
  3. "Small Things Considered: What You Didn't Know About Janthinobacterium".
  4. "Genus: Janthinobacterium".
  5. ''Ibid''.
  6. (1 November 2008). "Amphibian chemical defense: antifungal metabolites of the microsymbiont Janthinobacterium lividum on the salamander Plethodon cinereus". Journal of Chemical Ecology.
  7. (1 July 2009). "Skin microbes on frogs prevent morbidity and mortality caused by a lethal skin fungus". The ISME Journal.
  8. "LIVING COLOUR – by Laura Luchtman & Ilfa Siebenhaar".
  9. (April 2000). "Isolation of Bacteria Producing Bluish-Purple Pigment and Use for Dyeing". Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

burkholderiales bacteria-described-in-1978
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