A human acne-causing bacterium that is also discovered to infect vineyards is named after musician Frank Zappa.
Italian researchers who discovered the striking case of pathogen transfer said that the bacterium causing zits in human is also responsible in exploiting grapevines.
P. Zappae, which was first discovered via 16S rDNA gene-based microbiome from different sites in Northeast Italy, works by colonizing bark tissues and the soft, spongy tissue in plants, where it can contain itself intracellularly. They also studied the transformation history of it with the use of two marker genes -- recA and tly -- and found out they this pathogen was from humans.
Though the importance and influence of the bacterium on plant growth and health are not completely known yet, the researchers said that efforts to know more will be continued soon.
The discovery marks the first human to plant obligate transfer of the bacterium. It also gives a new perspective of bacteria host transfer among humans and domesticated plants.
The name P. Zappae is derived from the Italian word "zappa" which means, hoe. Coincidentally, a singer named Frank Zappa, whom the researchers were listening to while doing the whole investigation, has also written a song about wanting a Jewish princess with "sand-blasted zits." That made the researchers fully determined to name the new pathogen P. Zappae.
"Frank Zappa was a very eccentric musician and somehow very unexpected in his behavior," said research lead author Andrea Campisano to CNN. "We really did not expect this (discovery) and we thought of him."
The pathogen was not the first to be named after Zappa, who often includes names of germs in his lyrics because he grew up close to a chemical warfare facility. To name a few are a species of spider that was named Pachygnatha zappa because of its markings that look like Frank Zappa's famous mustache and a species of jellyfish that was named Phialella zappai.
This report was published in the February 2014 issue of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
