291: Biogeography of Tectonics and Teeth

TWiM explains how photoferrotrophic bacteria initiated plate tectonics over 2500 million years ago, and how two bacteria work together to cause childhood tooth decay. Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Schmidt, Michele Swanson, Petra Levin, Guest: Mark O. Martin Subscribe to TWiM (free) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Android, RSS, or by email. Become a patron of TWiM. Links for this episode Bacteria initiated plate tectonics (Geophys Res Lett) Medea hypothesis (Sci Am) Earth’s ferrous wheel (Nature) The Great Dying (Nova) The Great Oxidation Event (ASM) Banded iron formations (EarthSphere) S. sputigena and tooth decay (Nat Comm) Acid tolerance mechanisms of S. mutans (Fut. Micro.) Halitosis patients' tongue biofilm (Microbiol. Open) Take the TWiM Listener survey! Music used on TWiM is by Ronald Jenkees Send your microbiology questions and comments (email or recorded audio) to twim@microbe.tv