''Flavobacterium akiainvivens'', or koohonua ili akia, (

literally ''Literally'' is an English adverb meaning "in a literal sense or manner" or an intensifier which strengthens the associated statement. It has been used as an intensifier in English for several centuries, though recently this has been considered ...

"ākia bark bacteria") is a species of

gram-negative Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists ...

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

in the

Flavobacteriaceae Flavobacteriaceae is a family of rod-shaped gram negative bacteria. The family contains many environmental bacteria, with some species being potential pathogens. History The family of ''Flavobacteriaceae'' was first proposed by Reichenbach in 1 ...

family. The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''akiainvivens'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

(') and

means "living on or in ākia." It was isolated originally from decaying wood of the

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Hawai'ian

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

ākia (''

Wikstroemia oahuensis ''Wikstroemia oahuensis'', the Ākia or Oahu false ohelo, is a species of Flowering plant, flowering shrub in the Daphne mezereum, mezereon family, Thymelaeaceae, that is Endemism, endemic to Hawaii, Hawaii. Description In the wild, ākia can gr ...

''). ''Flavobacterium akiainvivens'' was discovered by Iris Kuo when she was just a

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

student at

Iolani School Iolani is a masculine Hawaiian name meaning "royal ''hawk''." It comes from the Hawaiian words ''ʻio'', meaning "Hawaiian hawk," and ''lani'', meaning "royal." It may refer to: ;Places *ʻIolani School, a private school located in Hawaii *ʻIolan ...

. She and her coauthors determined that it shares a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with '' Flavobacterium rivuli'' and '' Flavobacterium subsaxonicum''.

Description

Grown on R2a agar,

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

are

off-white Shades of white are colors that differ only slightly from pure white. Variations of white include what are commonly termed off-white colors, which may be considered part of a neutral color scheme. In color theory, a ''shade'' is a pure color mi ...

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

, around 2-3mm in diameter,

mucoid Mesenchyme () is a type of loosely organized animal embryonic connective tissue of undifferentiated cells that give rise to most tissues, such as skin, blood, or bone. The interactions between mesenchyme and epithelium help to form nearly ever ...

and

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable light scattering by particles, scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale ...

Cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a d ...

are gram-negative 0.4 by 2 μm rods. The cells are without any

gliding motility Gliding motility is a type of translocation used by microorganisms that is independent of propulsive structures such as flagella, pili, and fimbriae. Gliding allows microorganisms to travel along the surface of low aqueous films. The mechanisms ...

and the genome revealed no

flagella A flagellum (; : flagella) (Latin for 'whip' or 'scourge') is a hair-like appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, from fungal spores ( zoospores), and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many pr ...

chemotaxis Chemotaxis (from ''chemical substance, chemo-'' + ''taxis'') is the movement of an organism or entity in response to a chemical stimulus. Somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell organism, single-cell or multicellular organisms direct thei ...

systems. It is

catalase Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms exposed to oxygen (such as bacteria, plants, and animals) which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. It is a very important enzyme in protecting ...

-positive,

oxidase In biochemistry, an oxidase is an oxidoreductase (any enzyme that catalyzes a redox reaction) that uses dioxygen (O2) as the electron acceptor. In reactions involving donation of a hydrogen atom, oxygen is reduced to water (H2O) or hydrogen peroxid ...

-negative, and can not

reduce Reduction, reduced, or reduce may refer to: Science and technology Chemistry * Reduction (chemistry), part of a reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction in which atoms have their oxidation state changed. ** Organic redox reaction, a redox reacti ...

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . salt (chemistry), Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are solubility, soluble in wa ...

. The species expresses

caseinase Lysyl endopeptidase (, ''Achromobacter proteinase I'', ''Achromobacter lyticus alkaline proteinase I'', ''protease I'', ''achromopeptidase'', ''lysyl bond specific proteinase'', and ''caseinase'') is an enzyme. This enzyme catalyses the following ...

lipase In biochemistry, lipase ( ) refers to a class of enzymes that catalyzes the hydrolysis of fats. Some lipases display broad substrate scope including esters of cholesterol, phospholipids, and of lipid-soluble vitamins and sphingomyelinases; howe ...

, and

amylase An amylase () is an enzyme that catalysis, catalyses the hydrolysis of starch (Latin ') into sugars. Amylase is present in the saliva of humans and some other mammals, where it begins the chemical process of digestion. Foods that contain large ...

, but can digest neither

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of glycosidic bond, β(1→4) linked glucose, D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important s ...

nor

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

. It can grow both aerobically and microaerophilically but not anaerobically. The primary

carotenoid Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, cana ...

zeaxanthin Zeaxanthin is one of the most common carotenoids in nature, and is used in the xanthophyll cycle. Synthesized in plants and some micro-organisms, it is the pigment that gives paprika (made from bell peppers), corn, saffron, goji ( wolfberries) ...

, but it does not have any

flexirubin Flexirubin is the main pigment in the bacteria genera '' Flexibacter'', ''Flavobacterium'', '' Chryseobacterium'', and ''Cytophaga''.Reichenbach, H., W. Kohl, et al. (1980). ''FLEXIRUBIN-TYPE PIGMENTS IN FLAVOBACTERIUM''. Archives of Microbiology ...

-type pigments. The DNA G+ C content for the type strain is 44.2 mol%.

State microbe status

In early 2013,

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

James Tokioka James "Jimmy" Kunane Tokioka is an American politician and was a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from November 2006 to January 2023, most recently representing District 16. He currently serves as the director ...

submitted HB 293 HD1 to establish ''F. akiainvivens'' as the state microbe of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. At the time, no other

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

s had a

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

as a state symbol. However, on 29 May 2013

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

officially designated ''

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have be ...

'' as the official microbe of the state, making it the first in the nation. Meanwhile, the Hawaiian legislation was deferred for a year when it encountered competition from Senator

Glenn Wakai Glenn Satoru Wakai (born May 14, 1967) is an American politician and a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since November 2010 representing District 15. Wakai consecutively served in the Hawaii State Legislat ...

's SB3124 proposing ''

Aliivibrio fischeri ''Aliivibrio fischeri'' (formerly ''Vibrio fischeri'') is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium found globally in marine environments. This bacterium grows most effectively in water with a salt concentration at around 20g/L, and at temperatures ...

''. In 2017, legislation similar to the original 2013 ''F. akiainvivens'' bill was submitted in the Hawaii House of Representatives by

Isaac Choy Isaac William Choy is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives representing District 23 from November 2012 to November 2018. Choy consecutively served from 2008 until 2012 in the District 24 ...

and in the

Hawaii Senate The Hawaii State Senate ( Hawaiian: Ka ‘Aha Kenekoa) is the upper house of the Hawaii State Legislature. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President ...

Brian Taniguchi Brian Tetsuji Taniguchi (born November 7, 1951, in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate from January 16, 2013, to January 16, 2023, representing District 10. Taniguchi served consecutive ...

References

External links

* akiainvivens Gram-negative bacteria Bacteria described in 2013 Symbols of Hawaii {{Flavobacteria-stub

Description

State microbe status

See also

References

External links