Microscopic views : Little Planets

After seeing my latest microscopic images from the Scoby sheet with Methylene Blue I noticed I have a significant amount of images with a specific pattern. My first encounter with a Scoby was with a circular little mat. I'm wondering if this is why I enjoyed this patterns. 

In a way I see them as little planets. Thousands of organisms building something together.

Since people are brewing Kombucha around the world there is evidence that the environment in which the kombucha grows diversifies the microorganisms crating the Bacterial pellicle.

 Alan Marsh and colleagues attempts to broadly define the typical community within kombucha in this this paper 

Scoby under the microscope part 2

 Finally made it to Genspace for a workshop. The session was titled : Tools of trade: Microscopies.

It was interesting to see the different types of Microscopes the workflow.

Wet and Dry mounts, solutions to enhance visibility, etc.

I brought the the colorful Scoby and added Methylene Blue, the results are mesmerizing. I took the photos with my phone.

Sample

What is Methylene  Blue?

Methylene blue is an organic chloride salt having 3,7-bis(dimethylamino)phenothiazin-5-ium as the counterion. A commonly used dye that also exhibits antioxidant, antimalarial, antidepressant and cardioprotective properties. It has a role as an EC 1.4.Methylene Blue oral is used to treat methemoglobinemia and urinary tract infections. Methylene Blue is also used as a dye or staining agent to make certain body fluids and tissues easier to view during surgery or on an x-ray or other diagnostic exam. 
***It may kill microorganisms if you attempt to use is under a microscope make sure it doesnt' affect your living agent.

The nikon diaphot 300 was used for the image on the left.

Celestron images below.

Bioluminescent bacteria Aliivibrio fischeri

***Still looking for sources of what is the lumens range of Aliivibrio fischeri 

 Rambouillet (France) is serving as a testing ground for sustainable light. Glowee’s light pylons host a species of oceanic bioluminescent bacteria called Aliivibrio fischeri. The bacteria are gathered from the French coast, and live in a medium of saltwater and nutrients inside Glowee’s tubes. With lighting accounting for up to 30% of global electricity consumption, CEO and founder Sandra Rey has been looking to nature to inspire how biological lighting systems might help humans use energy better. (latest video Glowee is alive)

Bloomberg video

Domain: Bacteria

Phylum: Proteobacteria

Class: Gammaproteobacteria

Order: Vibrionales

Family: Vibrionaceae

Genus: Aliivibrio

Species: A. fischeri

The bioluminescence of A. fischeri is caused by transcription of the lux operon, which is induced through population-dependent quorum sensing. The population of A. fischeri needs to reach an optimal level to activate the lux operon and stimulate light production. The circadian rhythm controls light expression, where luminescence is much brighter during the day and dimmer at night, as required for camouflage. 

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3359415/

https://www.lechorepublicain.fr/rambouillet-78120/actualites/ou-en-est-le-projet-d-eclairage-par-bioluminescence-cree-grace-a-des-bacteries-marines-a-rambouillet_13972766/

Scoby Resort **In progress 65 inches wide

After several attempts to create an outdoor structure to grow scoby I decided against having it outside as the temperature was changing drastically and there are several night animals roaming like raccoons. So I purchased a pet pool I found on amazon : link here

65 inches. My main goal is to grow very large sheets of bacterial cellulose.

February 27, 2023

MARCH 19

    The pellicle started to grow successfully! This is the first time I've experience growing such a large bacterial cellulose. I am delighted with the progress and I hope to keep it healthy. On this instance I added some coffee (cuban espresso) as I noticed the caffeine helps to accelerate the growth. Will update in the next few weeks.

June 2022 

I'm planning on becoming a BioDeveloper. Instead of using a Scoby Hotel (aka Giant mason jar) I'm planning on building a structure to grow a large sheet. I think of this as a Scoby Resort (a flat surface to grow a sheet to be at least 8x 10)

Due to unrelated events I ended up in Junction Boulevard and discover and incredible fabric store (D-rex). They had an 8 ft wide sheet of plastic which I'm planning to use as the base of my Scoby resort. On the top I'll use some nylon to make sure no bugs sneak in. 

Always fun to visit fabric stores.

Material

Food Coloring on Bacterial Celulose

June 16 

Using the colorful scoby as a base I added some blue dyes. I'm really curious about the dry result.

RESULT:

June 22

The food dye is super strong and the scoby absorb it really well. Didn't left any residue on my fingers.

Graphite Powder

After 2 months of letting the Graphite powder settle I was ready to leave a piece to dry. I'm hoping it will be conductive.

 

Although the bacterial cellulose did absorb the graphite there was no conductivity. 

Colorful Scoby - with Butterfly Pea Flower - New tea recipe extra caffeine

 June 8th

Butterfly Pea Flower tea is vibrant indigo.  I'm hoping the biofilm will grow in the same color. For some reason the previous the bacterial cellulose has not growing very fast. Since this tea is caffeine free I decided to as some instant coffee to see if this will help. I noticed that the higher level of caffeine makes healthier biofilm.

I'm using the the old scoby since it has given me great results so I'm hoping to see some purple ish bacterial cellulose.  Aside from the blue tea I have added a mix of English breakfast sweet tea. 

June 16th

This Mat grew so quickly.

June 22

I was worried that the lab was too humid, but in 1 week I got an a solid sheet of Cellulose, I left it for a whole week to dry. The results below are from June 22. Probably I was ready after a few days of leaving it to dry but I'm glad I waited.