MicrobeWorld

Listeria monocytogenes has a particular tropism for the central nervous system. To gain knowledge about the immune response elicited by L. monocytogenes in the brain, we used a rat ex-vivo organotypic nervous system culture as a model for Listeria infection. Brain sections were maintained severa... Read More

Under a low magnification of 5X, this photograph depicted a number of Legionella pneumophila colonies that had been cultivated on Feeley-Gorman (FG) agar. Note the “cut-glass” appearance displayed by the round, off-white colored colonies. FG agar is used particularly in the cultivation of Legion... Read More

Microsporum gypseum microconidia. Unstained interference phase microscope. (1000X) Read More

This photograph depicts the colonial growth pattern displayed by Salmonella typhimurium bacteria cultured on a Hektoen enteric (HE) agar medium; S. typhimurium colonies grown on HE agar are blue-green in color, for this organism is a lactose non-fermenter, but it does produce hydrogen sulfide, (... Read More

One of our long-running goals at HuffPost Arts & Culture is to eliminate the unnecessary divide that has so long plagued the arts and sciences. So we were overjoyed to stumble upon the work of microbiologist-cum-photographer Zachary Copfer, who has turned a traditional artistic practice into a l... Read More

This image depicts a number of what were “suspected” smallpox scab fragments, from the archives of the Virginia Historical Society (VHS).

These fragments came to light when the Museum was in the process of putting together an exhibit entitled, “Bizarre Bits”, chronicling its collection dating... Read More

Activated sludge. Note the bacterial rods and filament within the floc. (5000X) Read More

Blastomyces dermatitidis in tissue from patient from Uganda, Africa. Gridley's stain Read More

Proteus mirabilis colonies on depleted medium in false color by Sune Dano and Kasper Dyring-Anderson. From Dr. James Shapiro's lab where he studies bacterial genetics, and is interested in pattern formation during colony growth. Photo from microbialart.com

Dr. James Shapiro is a Professor in ... Read More

By attaching fluorescent proteins to the genetic circuit responsible for B. subtilis's stress response, researchers can observe the cells' pulses as green flashes.

In response to a stressful environment like one lacking food, B. subtilis activates a large set of genes that help it respond to ... Read More

My mathematician wife "painted" onto a marine nutrient plate using a bioluminescent bacterium---as you can see, she loves Einstein. And I love microbiology. Hence the intersection! Read More

Gram-stained preparation of Bacillus subtilis showing rods, and spores (empty areas). (approx. 1000 X). Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More

Colorized transmission electron micrograph of Avian influenza A H5N1 viruses (seen in gold) grown in MDCK cells (seen in green).
Avian influenza A viruses do not usually infect humans; however, several instances of human infections and outbreaks have been reported since 1997. When such infecti... Read More

Lactophenol cotton blue wet preparation of scraping from oral lesion, showing pseudohyphae of Candida albicans Read More

Nikon Small World Image of Distinction 2011 photomicrography competition, Sinclair Stammers, Science Photo Library, UK

Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (rat nematode parasite) (560x)
Technique: Differential Interference Contrast Read More

This image depicts the quantitative difference in hemolytic reactivity seen in a trypticase soy agar culture plate containing 5% sheep’s blood growing group-D Streptococci (left wedge), group-B Streptococci (middle wedge), and group-A Streptococci (right wedge) bacteria. This plate was grown u... Read More

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of malaria (Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis) oocysts ( thick-walled structure in which sporozoan zygotes develop) developing on the midgut wall of the mosquito Anopheles.

Credit: Hilary Hurd, Wellcome Images Read More

Colorized electron micrograph of red blood cell infected with malaria parasites (blue). The small bumps on the infected cell show how the parasite remodels its host cell. Uninfected cells (red) have smoother surfaces.
Credit: NIAID/RML

Related story: "Scientists Find Genetic Basis for Key Pa... Read More

Here are photographs I took during our visit to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to record This Week in Microbiology #40. We roamed around campus scouting locations befo... Read More

The Human Microbiome Project has spent two years surveying bacteria and other microbes at different sites on 242 healthy people. The chart below hints at the complex combinations of microbes living in and on the human body.

The New York Times - Science Read More