Bacteria (prokaryotes) are ubiquitous. A fraction cause disease in people, animals, and plants, but the majority are the foundation for the global food web, the nitrogen cycle, soil formation, and are part of the critical microbiome (the collection of microorganisms living in or on people and animals).¹

Hawaiians call their state fish the humuhumunukunukuapua’a, or humuhumu for short, and snorkelers marvel at its wild paint job as it flits beneath basalt reefs.

by Randy J. Guliuzza, P.E., M.D., and Aaron T. Guliuzza, P.E.*