Week Three: Strep

Common Name: Strep

Scientific Name: Streptococcus pneumoniae

Not-So-Fun Fact: Streptococcus bacteria cause the disease of the respiratory system known as strep. The disease is very common among young children and the elderly, and may lead to malaise and even mental disorientation.

Domain: Prokaryota

Kingdom: Bacteria

Phylum: Firmicutes

Class: Bacilli

Order: Lactobacillales

Family: Streptococciae

Genus: Streptococcus

Species: S. pneumoniae

Environment: Streptococcus is a bacterium which infects the upper respiratory system most commonly and occasionally the brain and nervous system.

Description: The Streptococcus bacterium itself is lancet-shaped and possesses a thick, gram-positive cell wall. Symptoms of infection include aching in the part of the body affected, fever, coughing, confusion, and photosensitivity. Severe infections, especially ones that spread to the brain, can lead to permanent hearing loss, brain damage, and death; These are much less common in patients with access to medical treatment, who typically only experience the uncomfortable if considerably less harmful symptoms previously mentioned.

Reproduction & Development: Streptococci do not form spores and cannot move on their own. They usually reproduce by asexual mitosis, and whole populations can double in twenty to thirty minutes in favorable conditions (such as in a laboratory culture). At a certain point, when grouped in cultures that grow to an unstable level, the streptococci undergo a curious process in which the entire colony goes through autolysis using one of its own indigenous enzymes, called “autolysin.”

Nutrition: Streptococcus is a parasitic organism which feeds off its host and absorbs nutrients through its cell pores and cell membrane. It is usually found infecting liquid flows of nutrients, such as ones found in the lungs, spinal fluid, or blood.

 

Week Two: Valley Fever

Common Name: Valley Fever

Scientific Name: Coccidioides immitis

Not-So-Fun Fact: When inhaled, the fungus Coccidioides causes a severe lung infection called Coccidioidomycosis, or Valley Fever.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Fungus

Phylum: Ascomycota

Class: Euascomycetes

Order: Onygenales

Family: Onygenaceae

Genus: Coccidioides

Species: C. immitis

Description: Coccidioides is a long, chainlike fungus resembling a jewelry chain studded with square-shaped beads. The symptoms of the disease it causes resemble influenza, and often are confined to the lungs. If it forms spores, however, it can be spread by the victim’s own bloodstream to other parts of the body, including the brain and nervous system. Because it is “dimorphic”, it can change shape to evade the body’s immune system. Other symptoms of Valley Fever include fatigue, rash, headache, muscle ache, cough, and fever.

Environment: This fungus normally rests in the soils of Central America, South America, the southwestern United States, and Washington State. It is spread by inhalation of fungal spores. About 40% of those people who inhale the spores do not suffer the symptoms of Valley Fever. Residents of areas in which the fungus also resides should avoid a large amount of soil inhalation.

Reproduction & Development: Coccidioides reproduces by forming spores and spreading through the air or through the bloodstream. The fungus can reproduce sexually or asexually, though very little is known about the sexual reproduction of this species. Please regard the “Description” for the development of Coccidioides.

Nutrition: Coccidioides is a parasite that feeds off the human body, but also lies in the soil. It cannot survive on the surface of the soil in extremely hot, dry, or wet conditions and prefers a mild climate. Its preferred soil is full of carbonized organic material and various types of salt.

 

Week One: Peacock Flower

Common Names: Peacock Flower, Red Bird of Paradise, Barbados Pride, Ayoowiri, Flos Pavonis

Scientific Name: Caesalpinia pulcherrima syn. Poinciana pulcherrima

 

Not-So-Fun Fact (in fact, a terribly tragic one): The peacock flower, among other common toxic houseplants, was used during the days of brutal slavery in the Americas by oppressed and enslaved women. The women hoped that by ingesting the extremely poisonous seeds, they would either miscarry any children that would be born into a similarly miserable life or be killed themselves.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Fabales

Family: Fabaceae

Genus: Caesalpinia syn. Poinciana

Species: C. pulcherrima syn. P. pulcherrima

Description: The peacock flower is a beautiful shrub featuring long branches rimmed with small, fine leaves. Its also features bright red, orange, or yellow flowers which transform into poisonous flat brown seedpods. In favorable conditions it may reach twenty feet in height. Its bark is covered in sharp spines to discourage contact by non-pollinators.

Environment: The plant is indigenous to the islands of the Caribbean. It thrives in steamy tropical and subtropical climates, such as lowland and highland rainforest. It is also grown as an ornamental shrub, which gave its desperate users easy access while working in the domiciles of wealthy, botanically-minded slave owners.

Reproduction & Development: The peacock flower’s eye-catching blossoms are used to attract its favorite pollinator, the hummingbird, which feeds on the nectar and distributes pollen in summer. During the fall, the plants lose their flowers and grow seedpods which fall to the ground, their toxic seeds germinating into new plants.

Nutrition: Peacock flowers enjoy very wet and warm climates. They absorb nutrients from the soil and are autotrophic, like most plants.

 

Week One, Year Two: Angler Fish

Common Name: Triple-Wart Sea Devil Angler Fish

Scientific Name: Cryptopasaras couesi

Fun Fact: The bioluminescent lure dangling from a female anglerfish’s forehead is lit by millions of resident bacteria, which produce the natural light.

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Lophiiformes

The above taxonomy and below sections describe all anglerfish. The following taxonomy deals with the triple-wart sea devil anglerfish in particular.

Family: Ceratiidae

Genus: Cryptopasaras

Species: C. couesi

Description: An anglerfish is a bulbous-bodied deep sea fish. It possesses a gaping mouth filled with long, razor-sharp teeth that prevent it from fully closing its lips. The anglerfish is usually colored dark reddish brown. The female of the species is much larger than the male and features a protrusion of fleshy spine tissue from its forehead which ends in a bioluminescent “lure”. Adult anglerfish can grow from eight inches to more than three feet in length and weigh up to 110 pounds.

Environment: Anglerfish live in the abyss, the deepest level of the ocean. All of their characteristics have evolved over time to suite this unusual, lightless, cold, and nearly barren habitat.

Reproduction & Development: Because of the difficulty of finding mates in the abyss, the male anglerfish latches onto the first female he finds using his teeth. For the rest of his life, he will rely on her bloodstream for nutrients. His bloodstream fuses with hers, and over time his body and internal organs will dissolve until he has been entirely absorbed by the female. More than six males may perform this process with any individual female anglerfish. The number of males affects the number of fertilized eggs the female may produce.

Nutrition: Anglerfish are carnivorous and feed on almost any prey they can find in their desolate environment. The female’s glowing lure is used to attract fish, which swim toward the light hanging from the anglerfish’s forehead and are devoured by the mouth beneath. This mouth is so large in comparison to the rest of the fish’s body that it may swallow prey up to twice its body size.