What Does Agriculture, Ski Slopes, and Mutants Have In Common???
Pseudomonas syringae !!!!!!
Pseudomonas syringae is a Gram-negative, polar-flagellated, rod shaped bacteria. It is known as a common plant pathogen and has the interesting property of ice nucleation (meaning it
can cause water to freeze at temperatures as high as
-1.8 °C or 29 °F). This genetically carried property has
a large economic effect due to the strict dependence
crops have on the effects of the weather, particularly
the devastating effect frost can have on a year's
harvest. Mutants of this organism are being researched
as a possible beneficial organism for agricultural
purposes. P. syringae, because of it's ice
nucleating property, is
currently used commercially to produce snow for ski and
snowboarding resorts as well as being studied as a possible
biological atmospheric influence on amounts of rain and
snowfall. (Pretty Cool…literally!!!)