State Slogans, State Flowers, State... Microbes?
I got a kick out of this from the Dark Daily this morning. Hawaii's House of Representatives passed a bill that would recognize the bacterium Nesiotobacter exalbescens as the state's official microbe.
We've seen how clever our readers are, so when I saw this list of other Official State Microbe suggestions, I knew you all would have some great additions. Add yours in the comments section!
- Alabama:Karenia brevis, a dinoflagellate, aka the Red Tide Alga. A shoo-in if you think of the Crimson Tide. (Jenny Ridings,New Scientist)
- Alaska: The permafrost bacterium, Carnobacterium pleistocenum, found in 35,000 year-old ice. (Rowan Hooper, news editor, New Scientist)
- California: (1)Saccharomyces cerevisiae, for its importance in making wine. (Elio) (Also suggested for several other states)(2) The city of Los Angeles got a nomination for a city microbe: Clostridium botulinum, the source of botox. (NPR listener; Rowan Hooper, news editor, New Scientist)
- Florida: (1) Retirement communities in Florida would appreciate the 250-million-year-old Lazarus bacillus Bacillus permians. Note that there is far from universal agreement about the longevity of this bacterium. (Rowan Hooper, news editor, New Scientist)
- Indiana: Zymomonas mobilis, a bacterium that produces ethanol very efficiently. Indy 500 cars run on ethanol. (AmoebaMike, New Scientist)
- Texas: The oil eating Synthropus may be useful for cleanup of oil spills. (Rowan Hooper, news editor, New Scientist)
What else have you got?!