MicrobeWorld

Under a magnification of 3841X, this scanning electron micrograph SEM) revealed some of the ultrastructural morphologic details exhibited by a number of Gram-positive bacilli, or “rod-shaped”, Mycobacterium fortuitum bacteria.

M. fortuitum is classified as a “rapidly-growing” Mycobacterium, ... Read More

Fernan Federici, a researcher in the Haseloff Lab at Cambridge University and one of the Synthetic Aesthetics residents, studies how cells grow and develop into complex shapes and structures. Using confocal microscopy, he tracks the growth of plant cells and tissues, creating models of how cell ... Read More

Dictyostelium discoideum is a soil-living amoeba. A group of 100,000 form a mound as big as a grain of sand.

The hereditary information is carried on six chromosomes with sizes ranging from 4 to 7 Mb resulting in a total of about 34 Mb of DNA, a multicopy 90 kb extrachromosomal element that h... Read More

If we can visualize a protein's shape, we can learn much more about how it functions and how we might block its activity. This was the guiding principle behind an NIH initiative launched 25 years ago to spur the discovery of HIV-related protein structures. Structures produced through the program... Read More

An electron micrograph depicts the Trichomonas vaginalis parasite adhering to vaginal epithelial cells collected from vaginal swabs. A non-adhered parasite (right) is pear-shaped, whereas the attached parasite is flat and amoeboid.

Credit: Image courtesy of: Antonio Pereira-Neves and Marlene... Read More

By adding some art to his “Fundamentals of Microbiology” science course at the University of Waterloo, Biology professor Josh Neufeld has found a way to engage his students with the topic in a fun and creative way.

BIOL 140, explains Neufeld, is a large introductory course divided across thre... Read More

Safranin-stained Micrococcus luteus showing sarcinae and other arrangements. (approx. 1000 X). Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More

The results after incubation of a blood agar plate exposed to a laboratory environment for approximately 2 hrs. Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More

A colour-enhanced scanning electron micrograph image showing a cluster of Clostridium difficile on a surface. Clostridium difficile is a species of Gram-positive bacteria that causes severe diarrhea and other intestinal disease when competing bacteria in the gut flora have been wiped out by anti... Read More

Bacterial cells of the bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) which is one of the causal agents of mastitis in dairy cows. Its large capsule protects the organism from attack by the cow’s immunological defenses. Magnified 50,000X. Freeze Drying Replication.

Credit: Beltsville Agricultural Research ... Read More

One of many varieties of colorful lichens that grow on Ocotillo along the coast of Baja, Calif.

Lichens are actually made up of two plants: an algae and a fungus, living in a symbiotic relationship. In desert environments, lichen will dry out completely and remain dormant until rain or dewfal... Read More

Winner from the 2008 Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge presented in the Sept. 26, 2008 issue of Science.

The winning photography entry, "Glass Forest," depicts at the microscale level a community of diatoms, unicellular algae characterized by a peculiar glass-like cell wall, att... Read More

Pigmented and non-pigmented parts of Serratia marcescens colonies. Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More

Image of Streptococcus, a type (genus) of spherical bacteria that can colonize the throat and back of the mouth. Stroptococci often occur in pairs or in chains, as shown here.

Tina Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa Read More

This photomicrograph depicts a Treponema pallidum bacterium, a spirochete 5 - 15 micrometers in length, which is the causative agent of syphilis.
Syphilis, is passed from person to person through direct contact with a syphilis sore. Sores occur mainly on the external genitals, vagina, anus, or ... Read More

Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochete, a class of long, slender bacteria that typically take on a coiled shape. Infection with this bacterium causes Lyme disease.

Credit: Tina Carvalho, University of Hawaii at Manoa, NIGMS photo gallery
Read More

Gram-negative rods, possibly E. coli. (approx. 1000 X). Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More

Snottites have captivated cave-goers and scientists alike since the earliest publication on cave microbes by Hoeg in 1946. These biofilms cover the walls with a thick snot-like film, from which they derive their particularly appropriate name. A variety of cave systems, the Frasassi caves in Ital... Read More

Swarm of paramecia surrounding an unidentified protozoan. Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More

This is a magnified view of an Arabidopsis thaliana leaf eight days after being infected with the pathogen Hyaloperonospora arabidopsidis, which is closely related to crop pathogens that cause 'downy mildew' diseases. It is also more distantly related to the agent that caused the Irish potato fa... Read More