Looking for pigmented microbes using Korean Natural Farming techniques

 

A brick of steamed rice colonized with microbes from a previous experiment. Note some colourful dots that we hope to see in the next blocks. Photo credit: Candace Thompson

An aspect of our project that we feel passionate about is the opportunity to draw attention to different microbiology projects that are happening around us. Just as there are microbes everywhere there are also plenty of folks who are not necessarily associated with academic or industrial research but who nevertheless share a passion to understand the microbial world around us. The community biology lab Biotech Without Borders is a lab that I am a part of that provides low-cost lab access for folks in the NYC area who are pursuing projects that require such infrastructure. A couple months ago a new member, Candace Thompson, proposed a project to explore microbes using steamed rice placed at three different sites in New York:

• Marshlands Conservancy, Rye

• New York Botanical Garden’s Thain Family Forest, Bronx

• Stuy Cove Park, Manhattan

Along with her collaborator, Unjin Lee, they are looking for patterns in the pioneer species that colonize the steamed rice. Collecting microbes in this manner is part of Korean Natural Farming techniques that culture indigenous microorganisms from the soil as an alternative to inorganic fertilizers (Keliikuli et al, 2019). If along the way they see an interesting pigmented microbe we’ll sample it and take it to the lab for isolation and identification!