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Bacteria/Molds

 
 
profhig
 
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2004 05:11 pm
Some time ago I noticed a roughly circular mark on my double glazed front door. The edges were irregular, several 'feet' protruding around the edge, similar to an amoeba, but not so big, and fairly regular. I didn't take much notice, thinking it was a mark left by a child calling for one of my children. Then my son noticed it was getting bigger. I measured it as having a diameter of approximately 66mm. It has now grown to about 85mm over the space of about a week. On examining it, it appears to be in the sealed gap between the two pieces of glass. I can only guess that it is a bacterium or mold of some sort, but my son and I would like to know. (I like to encourage this kind of investigation in my children, in the hopes it might spark a thirst for knowledge.) Can anybody give us some ideas as to what it might be, and what it is living on? Or point me to a place I might get some information.
Drunk
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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 1,891 • Replies: 18
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Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2004 05:31 pm
Hmmm. Sounds sinister. Any UFO activity in Tamworth of late?
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profhig
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2004 05:37 pm
Merry Andrew wrote:
Hmmm. Sounds sinister. Any UFO activity in Tamworth of late?
Merry Andrew- only the usual Friday night visitations!!!
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Swimpy
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2004 06:33 pm
Most likely you have moisture getting in between the apins. That would be mold growing then.


Hi, Merry Andrew. How've you been?
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bromeliad
 
  1  
Reply Thu 1 Apr, 2004 07:50 pm
I dunno but it sounds cool.

Could it be a slime mold?
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/protista/slimemolds.html

Perhaps some algae?

I wonder what nutrients it is living on ...
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Miller
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 01:20 pm
Re: Bacteria/Molds
profhig wrote:
Some time ago I noticed a roughly circular mark on my double glazed front door. The edges were irregular, several 'feet' protruding around the edge, similar to an amoeba, but not so big, and fairly regular. I didn't take much notice, thinking it was a mark left by a child calling for one of my children. Then my son noticed it was getting bigger. I measured it as having a diameter of approximately 66mm. It has now grown to about 85mm over the space of about a week. On examining it, it appears to be in the sealed gap between the two pieces of glass. I can only guess that it is a bacterium or mold of some sort, but my son and I would like to know. (I like to encourage this kind of investigation in my children, in the hopes it might spark a thirst for knowledge.) Can anybody give us some ideas as to what it might be, and what it is living on? Or point me to a place I might get some information.
Drunk


Could it be a slime mold or pseudoplasmodium? Do you have a little microscope?
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caprice
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 01:33 pm
What colour(s)? If it's mold it should have some fuzziness to it. Does it? If it's between two panes of glass I would imagine it must be somewhat anaerobic.

It's hard to say what it is based on only a size description and having protruding feet! Smile
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panzade
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 03:05 pm
Mold May Be The Problem
Condensation is forming between the glass pieces and the mold is thriving off the wood. My best guess.
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Miller
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 04:43 pm
Slime molds aren't fuzzy. They're slimy. Likewise a pseudoplasmodium isn't fuzzy, it's also slimy. Look for fruiting bodies. If you see them, it means that spores are being formed.
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Miller
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 04:45 pm
Re: Mold May Be The Problem
panzade wrote:
Condensation is forming between the glass pieces and the mold is thriving off the wood. My best guess.


The only way the organism can be living off the wood is if it produces extracellular cellulase , which then degrades the cellulose to glucose. The organism than lives off the glucose.
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Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 06:17 pm
Hi, Swimpy. I've been hiding. I only come out after April Fools' Day is past.

Did you hear about the great new gimmick they're going to try in Europe this Summer? To avoid the kind of unreasonable heat wave that hit last year, the German Parliament has decreed that all thermometers in public places have to be rigged so they can't register anything higher than 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Loved that one.
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Swimpy
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 09:21 pm
Those German's are a wacky bunch, nein?
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panzade
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 09:27 pm
Swimpy, I could swear that was Ray Davies of the Kinks taking a toke
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Miller
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 10:43 pm
caprice wrote:
What colour(s)? If it's mold it should have some fuzziness to it. Does it? If it's between two panes of glass I would imagine it must be somewhat anaerobic.

It's hard to say what it is based on only a size description and having protruding feet! Smile


Could be fixing both nitrogen and carbon! Rolling Eyes
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farmerman
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 11:08 pm
SLIMODIUM fenestris,
thatll be 25 bucks.
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caprice
 
  1  
Reply Fri 2 Apr, 2004 11:24 pm
farmerman: *L*
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panzade
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Apr, 2004 12:03 am
Farmerman....You KILL me!

Guffaw
0 Replies
 
profhig
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Apr, 2004 07:19 am
thanx, bromeliad & miller- slime mold looks likely. But I have no microscope. Caprice- it is colourless, resembling a mark left by a sucker, except for the outline. And it is not fuzzy, the outline being quite well defined.
Panzade-and others who suggested it might be living off the wood- the door is Upvc. I know microbes can live in the most inhospitable of places and eat the strangest things, and it is pure curiosity driving me to find what it is and what it lives off! Must be glass or plastic?
I have done a rough drawing of it if anybody would like it emailed to them.
0 Replies
 
Miller
 
  1  
Reply Sat 3 Apr, 2004 08:28 am
In the wild, some of these migrating slime molds can be as large as several yards, if not more.
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