New Bacteria Scientific Name After Twitter?

A researcher at the Danish Museum of Natural History at the University of Copenhagen discovered a new type of bacteria based on the image he saw on Twitter. It is rare that a new type of bacteria was discovered through Twitter, and the found bacteria were given a scientific name after Twitter.

Ana Sofia Reboleira, a biologist working in the museum, stopped her eyes on a photo posted by Virginia Tech entomologist Derek Hennen on Twitter. This image is a type of millipede (Cambala annulata) native to North America. Revoleila paid attention to the small dot in the red circle at the top of the photo, and I thought it might be a new type of bacteria.

Millipedes mainly live in a humid environment and are excellent as a bacterial habitat because there are generational overlaps in adults and the number of populations is largely stable. Therefore, on the surface of the millipede, there are many species of Laboulbeniales, which are known to be parasitic to insects. Among them, it is said that because of the contact infection caused by mating, there are many Ravulvenia bacteria around the gonads of the millipede.

In order to determine whether the small spot in the image Hennen was looking for was a new species, Revoleira and a colleague examined the specimens held in the museum, and a new species of Ravulvenia was found in several specimens. The discovered germs were given a scientific name (Toglomyces twitteri) to commemorate the fact that the trigger was Twitter.

Ravulvenia fungus is said to be hardly researched due to the technical problem that it is difficult to study DNA unless you are familiar with both entomology and mycology. As far as he knows, this is the first time a new bacteria has been discovered. . Related information can be found here .