11. Oscillatoria: Slimy Asexual POND Scum

Darwin's Deviations

The most asexual episode…that will blow you away with the most F-bombs! Oscillatoria, and all cyanobacteria, are slimy, scummy, invisible…they do not need to be handsome, they are their own partners, and they are EVERYWHERE! You cannot escape them, they will even tear themselves apart in order to hitch a ride on your muddy sneaker….follow you home..and terrorize you with their overt photosynthetic efficiency…and existence…and capabilities to survive for over 3.5 billion years without ever getting laid! However dreadful their lives may seem…they’re more successful than our own :)

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Intro/outro sampled from "Sequence (Mystery and Terror) 3" by Francisco Sánchez (@fanchisanchez) at pixabay.com

Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

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SOURCES:

Wikipedia: Prokaryote

Wikipedia: Cyanobacteria

Microbe Wiki: Oscillatoria

Oscillatoria: Occurrence, Thallus Structure and Reproduction

Oscillatoria – Classification , Occurrence , Structure and Reproduction

AlgaeBase: Oscillatoria Vaucher ex Gomont, 1892

Nuernberg, Dennis & Mariscal, Vicente & Parker, Jamie & Mastroianni, Giulia & Flores, Enrique & Mullineaux, Conrad. (2014). Branching and intercellular communication in the Section V cyanobacterium Mastigocladus laminosus, a complex multicellular prokaryote. Molecular microbiology. 91. 10.1111/mmi.12506.

Rani, V. & Ulagalanthaperumal, Elaya Perumal & Sonaimuthu, Palanivel. (2016). Morphology and taxonomy of Oscillatoria princeps Vaucher ex gomont (OSCILLATORIALES, OSCILLATORIACEAE). Indian Journal of Education and Information Management. 5. 1-5.

Muhlsteinova, Radka & Hauer, Tomáš & Ley, Paul & Pietrasiak, Nicole. (2018). Seeking the true Oscillatoria: A quest for a reliable phylogenetic and taxonomic reference point. Preslia. 90. 10.23855/preslia.2018.151.

Brahamsha, B. and D. Bhaya. “Motility in Unicellular and Filamentous Cyanobacteria.” (2013).

Ridley, Christian & Faulkner, D & Haygood, Margo. (2005). Investigation of Oscillatoria spongeliae-Dominated Bacterial Communities in Four Dictyoceratid Sponges. Applied and environmental microbiology. 71. 7366-75. 10.1128/AEM.71.11.7366-7375.2005.