This has been a very busy week in the lab. I went hiking at Dreamy Draw on Sunday to gather more samples for testing. I have officially isolated 24 colonies this week. Meaning next week is going to be even busier as we will have to perform various tests on all of the individual colonies. I decided I would start to share some interesting facts about Creosote as I learn myself. Creosote bushes form symbiotic relationships (mutualism) with bacteria, fungi and algae. These microbial communities allow the Creosote to gather more phosphorous and nitrogen during rainfall. Making this desert plant more advanced than other desert plants.
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| The black parts of the Creosote are where the microbial communities thrive. (Bacteria, algae, fungi) |
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| Dreamy Draw |
Very Interesting Jackie! Since this semester I have learned so much about this crazy world of Creosotes! I walk past those bushes every single time I go out hiking and little did I know how complex this plants little ecosystem was. And may I just say good luck with testing all of your samples. When I saw that table full of tubes I couldn't believe my eyes. You are doing some real deal research!
ReplyDeleteI never knew that about those plants, I thought they were just simple plants that provided landscape. I didn't realize the plant had a mutualistic relationship with bacteria and fungi. Is the nitrogen and phosphorus a waste product from the bacteria and the plant just absorbs that? That’s pretty cool!
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