A Textbook Comparison of EarthAlive and Oath Soil Constituents

Discussion in 'Advanced Growing Techniques' started by trojangrower, Nov 29, 2023.

  1. This thread compares some beneficial organisms found in two products (actually four).

    I was recently asked by a friend to try a product called Soil Balance™ /Oath Soil Life™. I don't mind trying new things, but I've been using a product called Earth Alive™ Soil Activator™ with success and didn't think too much of it. Now the thing is, another friend of mine asked me 'what's in that stuff'? This got me looking into the strains that are used as biological beneficial organisms (ie bennies), and questioning whether or not they are beneficial and/or potentially harmful to human health. Some of the results are interesting.

    First off, I'm a bit careless when it comes to handling these materials. I should probably wear a respirator and gloves each time I handle them. I think that's the standard for application of most of these compounds, but how many people listen to that? I normally hold my breath while I handle it, and then promptly go and wash my hands (ie. with soap and warm water). But I suspect some dust remains on my clothing.
    View attachment 3094759
    Those are the strains in Oath Soi Life. I will abbreviate this as OS.
    View attachment 3094760
    These are the strains in EarthAlive. We will call this EA.

    I gathered the above information for both these products from the same site.

    Both products contain Bacillus subtilis, although OS contains ~ 75% more CFU/g. I'm not sure how much this would matter given that if the strain is happy where it is, it will flourish with the amounts shown. Using Google Scholar, I found about 50,100 results after limiting the search to 2019. I'm not going to read all of those. Reading the first paragraph from one of these reviews (second hit) states "Bacillus subtilis is an aerobic, Gram-positive soil bacterium, which has been widely used for the production of heterologous proteins. It secretes numerous enzymes to degrade a variety of substrates, enabling the bacterium to survive in a continuously changing environment. This species and some of its close relatives have excellent protein secretion ability, making them important hosts for the production of medicinal proteins and industrial enzymes. For these reasons, it has been widely used to produce heterologous proteins. Moreover, it has excellent physiological characteristics and highly adaptable metabolism, which makes it easy to cultivate on cheap substrates. Accordingly, B. subtilis grows fast and the fermentation cycle is shorter, usually, around 48 h, while the fermentation cycle of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is around 180 h. Furthermore, excellent expression systems with good genetic stability are available for this organism, and it has no strong codon preference. Different from Escherichia coli, B. subtilis has a single cell membrane, which facilitates protein secretion, simplifies downstream processing, and reduces the process costs. Finally, this species is generally recognized as safe (GRAS)".

    Other key points include:
    • "B. subtilis is an ideal multifunctional probiotic, with great potential for preventing the growth of pathogenic bacteria and enhancing nutrient assimilation"
    • B. Subtilis is a model organism for bioengineering.
    • In agriculture, studies have shown that adding an appropriate amount of B. subtilis can significantly improve the humus and carbon content of compost, thus improving soil quality and promoting crop growth
    • B. subtilis can also form complex biofilms, which can be used as living biological materials for the production of many functional biomaterials, such as surface growth factors, antibiotics, lysozyme, and antimicrobial peptides for medical materials.
    I see it's benefit for agriculture is it can improve humus and carbon content of compost. This isn't really a concern for me as I don't use organics during cannabis cultivation, but the prevention of pathogenic bacteria is an attractive bonus.

    That review isn't the greatest for this discussion, other papers, like Bacillus subtilis impact on plant growth, soil health and environment: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde would be more useful.

    I can limit the results from search results by zeroing using terms like 'safety'. When I do this with B. subtilis, we generate 17,200 results (again since 2019). Just looking over it, it seems like the bacteria is referenced in use as probiotics for animal and human consumption. I think we can move on from here as I don't see anything too alarming. Nor do I want to turn this into a book.

    Moving away from B. subtilis, we see that the similarity between ES and OA stops. Everything else is now different. Let's consider ES first, since there's only two organisms. One of the is Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (calling it BA from now on). BA is also found in two other products (that I know of), Hydroguard and Garden Friendly Fungicide. BA is the only organism in these other products. A Google Scholar search (including the term safety) retrieves 14,300 results. Interestingly, one such publication is Isolation of a potential probiotic strain Bacillus amyloliquefaciens LPB-18 and identification of antimicrobial compounds responsible for inhibition of food-borne pathogens, wherein is states "The antimicrobial substances produced by B. amyloliquefaciens show effective inhibition of Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium oxysporum in an agar diffusion assay". This suggests it is effective in preventing aflatoxin and fusarium infection in cannabis. We know that Hydroguard and GFF are widely used in the cannabis community to control root rot. I see one report named Assessment of the safety and anti-inflammatory effects of three Bacillus strains in the respiratory tract that claims "Chronic respiratory diseases are part of accumulating health problems partly due to worldwide increase in air pollution. By their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties, some probiotics constitute promising alternatives for the prevention and treatment of chronic respiratory diseases. We have isolated Bacillus strains from Korean fermented foods and selected three potentially probiotic strains (two Bacillus subtilis and one Bacillus amyloliquefaciens) based on safety, antimicrobial efficacy, activity against airborne pathogens and their immunomodulatory properties in vivo". This actually suggests a beneficial effect for both BA and Bs (that we already discussed above).

    *It is important to also point out that even though the strains can share a genus species title (like Bacillus subtilis, the strain # can differ, and that can greatly affect characterization.

    The next organism in EA is Pseudomonas monteilii. The search (with safety) produced only 620 results. When I first type in Pseudomonas monteilii in the search bar, the AI suggests adding the word pathogenicity. This is a bit of a warning to me. Nevertheless, I skim some papers, I found Synergistic effects of substrate inoculation with Pseudomonas strains on tomato phenology, yield, and selected human health-related phytochemical compounds a bit interesting in that it states "reveals that Pseudomonas strains improve plant growth, yield, and health-related phytochemical substances in tomato fruits, which could broaden their application in fruit and vegetable crops". But I also see some papers relating to this strain as being hypothesized as a rare opportunistic pathogen, a co-infectious agent that tags along Covid, and a case of Pseudomonas monteilii and Acinetobacter nosocomialis endocarditis with a fatal outcome in a patient with a recent history of prosthetic aortic valve replacement. There's more stuff out there, but as you can see, this strain has potential harm related to it. I believe it was the reason I reached out to the company, which tried to interview me, and I just said forget this.

    Let's move on to the next product, OA.

    Collectively, Streptomyces shows promise as a biocontrol agent. I will reference Plant Growth Promoting and Biocontrol Activity of Streptomyces spp. as Endophytes for interest. Also see Secondary Metabolites of Actinomycetes and Their Uses in Agriculture.

    Let's briefly look at the strains.

    Streptomyces janthinus generates 13 results on Google Scholar. This is solely using the term "streptomyces janthinus" (ie. no safety, or pathogenicity, or anything else, and using the quotes). From this, only 10 results are in English. One of the results is a double, so 9 results total. From one of these papers, Molecular-Based Identification of Actinomycetes Species That Synthesize Antibacterial Silver Nanoparticles, the name Streptomyces janthinus is only used because it was part of a homology search (ie. gene family relation chart), and has nothing to do with this strain. In fact, I don't really see any research paper on this strain. If I broaden the search to include 'all time', we only get 28 results. I only see one (french) paper on potential pythium contro (on carrot roots?).

    Streptomyces cinerochromogenes only generates 30 papers. This is 'all time' and with the name in quotation marks. I see a review which mentions it but it's behind a paywall, and one other paper, Biocontrol Potential of Endophytic Actinobacteria against Fusarium solani, the Causal Agent of Sudden Decline Syndrome on Date Palm in the UAE, which also mentions S. janthinus (above).

    Streptomyces chromofuscus gets (all time) 1870 hits. Some are actually interesting (at first glance), such as, HERBOXIDIENE, A NEW HERBICIDAL SUBSTANCE FROM Streptomyces chromofuscus A7847, (herbicide!), Purification and characterisation of a protease inhibitor from Streptomyces chromofuscus 34-1 with an antiviral activity, (interesting because this could be used against influenza and maybe even covid), The Streptomyces chromofuscus Strain RFS-23 Induces Systemic Resistance and Activates Plant Defense Responses against Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus Infection. One paper, Selective Isolation of Bioactive-Pigmented Bacteria from Saline Agricultural Soil and Assessment of Their Antimicrobial Potential against Plant Pathogens , stated "Of these, Streptomyces chromofuscus was found to be active against most of the fungal and bacterial phytopathogens tested. When adding "pathogenicity" to the search terms, I see some papers relating to a potential benefit due to antimicrobial compound(s) produced from this strain, like in Antibiotic Potential of Endophytic Actinomycetes of Medicinal Herbs Against Human Pathogenic Bacteria. There seems to be interest in phosphatidylcholine-hydrolyzing phospholipases D from Streptomyces chromofuscus.

    Streptomyces atratus generates 370 hits (all time). By adding the term "pathogenicity" I discover 177 results. This seems double edged, as the first hit is titled Two imide substances from a soil-isolated Streptomyces atratus strain provide effective biocontrol activity against grapevine downy mildew (that's a pro), but the next hit is titled Community-acquired bacteremic Streptomyces atratus pneumonia in an immunocompetent adult: a case report, (that's a con). The third hit is Evaluation of imide substance from Streptomyces atratus PY-1 for the biocontrol of Phytophthora blight, which states "The ability of imide substance to control pepper blight was 95.44% after dilution by 500, which was similar to that of 2,000-fold dilution of 50% Dimethorpho WP. The imide substance still inhibited the oomycete by 62.93% when diluted 5,000-fold, and there was no significant difference among the three repeated tests. Therefore, it could be used as a potential agent to control pepper blight" (that's a pro). The strain is mentioned in Isolation, Phenotypic and Molecular Identification of Actinomycetes From Soil and Evaluation of Their Efficiency in Control of the Pathogen Botrytis cinerea Caused Gray Rot Disease on Eggplant , where it states
    "the effect of filtrate of Streptomyces species on the inhibition of the pathogenic
    fungus B. cinerea. The strain S. kanamyceticus showed the highest inhibition zone of 8.13 mm during
    the incubation period of 15 days in GTM. The inhibition of this isolate was significantly superior on
    all other isolates during the incubation period of 15 days (except for the strain S. griseus in which the
    inhibition zone was 7.33 mm), while, S. atratus achieved the lowest inhibition zone (2.11 mm) against
    the pathogenic fungus during the incubation period of 10 days". So there's some pro-content on the inhibition of botrytis, definitely good. This strain seems a mixed bag to me.

    Streptomyces aurantiogriseus generates (all time) 144 search results. Add the term pathogenicity reduces the find to 86 results. Nothing ringing bells on this, I see titles like Antagonistic potential of native strain Streptomyces aurantiogriseus VSMGT1014 against sheath blight of rice disease. This strain seems to be an anti-fungal. I don't see any reports on human toxicity.

    Streptomyces rimosus generates 10,100 hits (all time) and 1980 hits since 2019. It is an antibiotic producer (ie. oxytetracycline) and has potential to kill other bacteria, or to make them antibiotic resistant. By adding the term 'pathogenicity', we get 907 results (since 2019). S. rimosus appears to protect against Fusarium. The strains name comes from rimocidin, which "is a polyene macrolide that exhibits a strong inhibitory activity against a broad range of plant-pathogenic fungi". This is interesting, from Psychophysiological Responses of Humans during Seed-Sowing Activity Using Soil Inoculated with Streptomyces rimosus, "This study confirmed a positive effect on improving the concentration and attention of adults when seed-sowing activity was performed using S. rimosus-inoculated soil", which indicates some biological (and psychological) effect on humans. A potential negative effect can be seen in Microbial spectrum and risk factors of endogenous endophthalmitis in a tertiary center of Northern China, where it was detected in an eye infection. I feel the biggest danger in this strain is the potential of transferring antibiotic resistance to other pathogenic bacteria, see Bacterial Genome and Population Dynamics with Implications for Public Health, where you can find a dedicated chapter to S. rimosus.

    Streptomyces venezuelae generates 7210 all time hits; 2160 since 2019. This is another antibiotic synthesizer, which produces chloramphenicol and jadomycin A and B. It has the potential to transfer this resistance to other bacteria. It "sporulates very rapidly and completely in submerged culture". I don't see anything involving human infections with this strain, maybe even beneficial? idk. There's a lot of publications due to it's ability to produce these important compounds. It's important to note that many people are allergic to chloramphenicol which could lead to anaphylaxis and potentially death.

    Streptomyces violascens generates a total of 598 all time hits; 218 hits since 2019. Looks like it is (potentially) another antibiotic producer, but idk what it's called (maybe Cyclo(phe-pro) Antibiotic/Antimycin Analogues?). One paper I see Biological control of toxigenic citrus and papaya-rotting fungi by Streptomyces violascens MT7 and its extracellular metabolites, states "results strongly suggest a high potential for application of S. violascens MT7 and its extracellular metabolites as an effective eco-friendly alternative to synthetic fungicides for controlling toxigenic citrus and papaya-rotting fungi". You can find some other papers with similar results, mostly anti-fungal (anthracnose) activity. I did notice Antimycin A increases bronchopulmonary C-fiber excitability via Protein Kinase C alpha, which is not a good thing.

    Streptomyces viridodiasticus generates 44 all time hits and 18 since 2019. There is mention of it affecting Sclerotinia minor (in lettuce). There is also mention of it protecting from Fusarium. Another quote "inhibited the growth of Sclerotinia minor responsible for vegetable rot". Looks like it produces chitinase; chitin is produced from insects, that's what their exoskeletons are made of. I see nothing regarding human infection or bioactivity in that regards.

    Streptomyces griseus generates 81,500 all time hits; 16,900 since 2019. This is another antibiotic synthesizing bacteria which produces streptomycin, the first antibiotic ever reported from a bacterium. There's going to be a lot to sift thru for this bacteria. Again, one would have to consider allergic reactions to streptomycin, as this could be a downstream product found in any grown cannabis. It has been shown to rarely infect humans. It's been shown to have fusarium combatting activity, as mentioned in Control of Fusarium Wilt Using Streptomyces griseus with Plant Growth-Promoting Effect on Tomato. Some may consider antibiotic resistance and infection as insignificant, but I don't, and I don't think the authors of Molecular identification and antibiotic resistance pattern of actinomycetes isolates among immunocompromised patients in Iran, emerging of new infections do either. Makes one really rethink how effective antibiotic synthesizing strains can be in a world of plagued by rising antibiotic-resistant infections.

    OK last one, Streptomyces rectiverticillatum. This one generated 0 hits on google scholar. I found the alternative name Streptomyces hiroshimensis, which generated 144 all time hits using Google Scholar. Wiki says "Streptomyces hiroshimensis produces the red pigment prodigiosin; the prodigiosin "is responsible for the pink tint occasionally found in grime that accumulates on porcelain surfaces such as bathtubs, sinks, and toilet bowls". Interestingly, the wiki continues "Prodigiosin received renewed attention for its wide range of biological activities, including activities as antimalarial, antifungal, immunosuppressant, and antibiotic agents. It is perhaps best known for its capacity to trigger apoptosis of malignant cancer cells. The exact mechanism of this inhibition is highly complex and not entirely elucidated, but could involve multiple processes, including phosphatase inhibition, copper mediated cleavage of double stranded DNA, or disrupting the pH gradient through transmembrane transport of H+ and Cl- ions. As a result, prodigiosin is a highly promising drug lead, and is currently in preclinical phase study for pancreatic cancer treatment. Prodigiosin has recently been found to have excellent activity against stationary phase Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease". Thus, we see it produces biologically active compounds. It is closely related to Streptomyces strain CMU-MH021, which "had an effect on root-knot nematodes and also produced siderophore and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)". Another paper on Suppression of Killer T Cell Induction by Prodigiosin 25-C.

    Ok that's it. That's my comparison of EarthAlive Soil Activator and Oath Soil. If you feel this helped, well thanks. If you feel it's exhaustive, think about how I feel atm...

    I welcome any other information regarding this topic. If you want to talk about other strains, please do.
     
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