Janthinobacterium lividum
Species of bacterium
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Etymology
The genus name, Janthinobacterium, comes from the Latin janthinus, which means "violet" or "violet-blue" + bacterium, which means rod or staff. The species name is also from the Latin, lividum, which means "of a blue or leaden color".
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Antifungal properties
This bacterium produces antifungal compounds, such as indole-3-carboxaldehyde and violacein.
Resistance to B. dendrobatidis
J. lividum inhibits the toxic effect and growth of the fungal genus Batrachochytrium. This fungus causes a disease known as chytridiomycosis in amphibians. It is contributing to the massive declines of amphibians around the world, so understanding the uses of these bacteria has been of major interest.
A study conducted in 2009 explored the effects of Bd and the use of J. lividium in the lab for survival. The three experimental treatments were: frogs infected with Bd, frogs given the bacterium J. lividium, and frogs with the given bacterium and then exposed to Bd. Nearly all of the frogs exposed to Bd alone experienced mortality, while none of the other treatments had any deaths. This effectively introduced the use of J. lividium as a possible method for Bd prevention in the lab setting.
Textile dyeing
The pigment produced by J. lividum is also being used to colour textile. The biodegradable pigment could be an alternative to synthetic textile dyes that contain harmful chemicals and heavy metals.