From the Chicago Tribune:

Researchers seeking to slow the spread of invasive zebra and quagga
mussels in American lakes and rivers have found a bacterium that
appears to be fatal to the problematic species without affecting native
mussels or freshwater fish.

The bacterium, Pseudomonas fluorescens,
offers some hope for controlling the troublesome bivalves that are
wreaking ecological and economic havoc in North American waters from
the Colorado River to Vermont, and especially in the Great Lakes.

But
more testing remains to be done, and the bacteria could be used
effectively only on a limited scale, said Daniel Molloy, the New York
State Museum researcher who discovered the possible new use for P. fluorescens.

OK, phrases like “limited scale” and “more testing” temper our enthusiasm a bit, but we’ll take anything that interrupts the wave of bad invasive species news.

See you (and the other bacteria) on the river, Tom Chandler.

zebra mussel, quagga mussel, invasive species, handsome bacteria

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