{"id":2687,"date":"2021-06-25T10:31:59","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T09:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningspaces.dundee.ac.uk\/dundeeuniculture\/?p=2687"},"modified":"2025-09-15T10:46:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T09:46:47","slug":"the-wonderful-world-of-microbes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/the-wonderful-world-of-microbes\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wonderful World of Microbes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW155209902\">On the 27 June it is <a href=\"https:\/\/worldmicrobiomeday.com\/\">World Microbiome Day<\/a><\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">It is a day to celebrate the wonderful world of microbes by connecting those who work with\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">them with the wider public. At the University of Dundee, we have scientists\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">across various disciplines studying<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">microbes. These include medical doctors, research scientists, dentists\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">and<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">\u00a0mathematicians<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW33856407 BCX0\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Meet some of them here:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><a href=\"https:\/\/uod.ac.uk\/2xcFfIC\">Professor Nicola Stanley-Wall<\/a> <span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">and her team\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">in the School of\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">Life<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">Sciences study Biofilms. Biofilms are communities of microbes that live in a sticky matrix. They study how they form\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">and<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">\u00a0how we can use them.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">Often research needs scientists with different skills to work together. Nicola regularly works with physicist\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ph.ed.ac.uk\/people\/cait-macphee\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">Professor Cait MacPhee<\/span><\/a> <span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">(Edinburgh University)<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">, mathematician\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dundee.ac.uk\/people\/fordyce-davidson\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">Professor\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">Fordyce Davidson<\/span><\/a> <span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">and computational biologist\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dundee.ac.uk\/people\/james-abbott\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">Dr\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW164663628\">James Abbott.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">Your mouth is home to a vast array of bacteria, ever wondered what is in a kiss?\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">Bacteria come in all shapes, sizes and\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">colours<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">\u00a0with even iron rich black pigmented microbes that can live in our gums. Bacteria like arriving in order, even when it is to cause tooth disease!\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dundee.ac.uk\/people\/david-edwards\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">Dr\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">David Edwards\u2019<\/span><\/a><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\"> group in the Dental School investigate how different species\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">colonise<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">\u00a0tooth filling materials.<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">Knowing how to look after your teeth is important for oral health.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\">Dental students run the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.dundee.ac.uk\/one-dundee\/toothy-tigers-hunting-down-bad-dental-habits\/\">Toothy Tigers<\/a><\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\"> <span class=\"TextRun  BCX0 SCXW229079172\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\">initiative aimed at educating local children about the importance of oral health.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2692\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2692\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2692\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Toothy-Tigers-L-r-Natalie-Hytiris-Taranjit-Kaur-Jill-McMurray-1080x675-1-1024x640.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Toothy-Tigers-L-r-Natalie-Hytiris-Taranjit-Kaur-Jill-McMurray-1080x675-1-1024x640.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Toothy-Tigers-L-r-Natalie-Hytiris-Taranjit-Kaur-Jill-McMurray-1080x675-1-300x188.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Toothy-Tigers-L-r-Natalie-Hytiris-Taranjit-Kaur-Jill-McMurray-1080x675-1-768x480.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Toothy-Tigers-L-r-Natalie-Hytiris-Taranjit-Kaur-Jill-McMurray-1080x675-1.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2692\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a0Dundee students &#8211; Toothy Tigers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"1\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk\/people\/davide-bulgarelli\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">Dr\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">Davide Bulgarelli <\/span><\/a><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">is a plant scientist\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">in the School of\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">Life<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">Sciences based\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">at the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">James<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">Hutton<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">Inst<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">itute<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0who studies the soil microbiome.<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0Microbes live on and around plants, particularly around the roots. They do various helpful jobs for plants like helping them to defend against pathogens and helping them to get nutrients from soil.<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0One project his team are working on is<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0finding microbial alternatives or complementary treatments to traditional farming techniques that could be harmful to the environment\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">and<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0expensive.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">The<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW104131093\">\u00a0research could also help to improve the nutritional content of some of the food that we eat.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"TextRun  BCX0 SCXW13921651\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW13921651\">Over the same weekend, is another important date \u2013 on Saturday 26 June, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dundeesciencecentre.org.uk\/\">Dundee Science Centre <\/a><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW36466202 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW36466202 BCX0\">reopens to the public! In the past year, it has had its ground fl<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW36466202 BCX0\">oor redeveloped.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"TextRun SCXW36466202 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW36466202 BCX0\">Some of our scientists shared images of the microbes that they study with the Centre which you can see in their new Microbe Zone!\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2690\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2690\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2690 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/DSC-petris-2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/DSC-petris-2-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/DSC-petris-2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/DSC-petris-2-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2690\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Microbe Zone at Dundee Science Centre (credit: Dundee Science Centre)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW105017603 BCX0\">To celebrate we have created an <a href=\"https:\/\/discovery.dundee.ac.uk\/ws\/portalfiles\/portal\/58788913\/23109_Microbe_Picture_Book_Accessible_final_1_.pdf\">Images of Microbiology<\/a> book<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW105017603 BCX0\"> <span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW105017603\">featuring those microbes<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW105017603\">. Scientist Dr Senga Robertson-<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2  BCX0 SCXW105017603\">Albertyn<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW105017603\">\u00a0from the Bulgarelli lab has created lots of fun activities related to our Images of Microbiology book in\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW105017603\">an accompanying <a href=\"https:\/\/discovery.dundee.ac.uk\/ws\/portalfiles\/portal\/58789023\/23109_Microbe_Activity_Book_A4_RGB_FA.pdf\">activity book. <\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2688\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2688\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2688\" src=\"http:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Microbes-Booklet-NSW-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Microbes-Booklet-NSW-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Microbes-Booklet-NSW-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Microbes-Booklet-NSW-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Microbes-Booklet-NSW-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/263\/2021\/06\/Microbes-Booklet-NSW-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2688\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u00a0Child filling out the word search in the Images of Microbiology Activity Book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW105017603 BCX0\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun  BCX0 SCXW105017603\"><span class=\"TextRun SCXW92933745 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW92933745 BCX0\">Give them a read and you can learn more about the wonderful world of microbes!<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW92933745 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:259}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the 27 June it is World Microbiome Day.\u00a0It is a day to celebrate the wonderful world of microbes by connecting those who work with\u00a0them with the wider public. At the University of Dundee, we have scientists\u00a0across various disciplines studying\u00a0microbes. These include medical doctors, research scientists, dentists\u00a0and\u00a0mathematicians. Meet some of them here:\u00a0 Professor Nicola Stanley-Wall [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":550,"featured_media":2691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-science"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/550"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6289,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687\/revisions\/6289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.dundee.ac.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}