In my lab, we call this "project purple rain"

The probiotic bacteria that we use in the project is called Janthinobacterium lividum, or "Jliv" for short. When we grow it in culture, in a petri dish, the bacterial colonies are a lovely deep purple! This is because Jliv produces a metabolite aptly named violacein. It is the violacein along with a few other chemicals that these bacteria produce which are really good at inhibiting fungi, including the Bd fungal pathogen that makes amphibians sick. So, when we mix up a batch of Jliv as a probiotic for our boreal toads, it appears purple, and we happily rain it down on the young toads, thus project purple rain. Oh, and of course, we also do this in honor of the late, GREAT, Prince.

 

Jliv bacteria in all their purple splendor