MicrobeWorld

Cell showing overproduction of the ARTS protein (red). ARTS triggers apoptosis, as shown by the activation of caspase-3 (green) a key tool in the cell's destruction. The nucleus is shown in blue.

Sarit Larisch and Hermann Steller, Rockefeller University Read More

Circular, opaque colonies on the surface of a nutrient agar plate. Taken from the Wistreich Collection, appearing exclusively on MicrobeWorld. Read More

A protein called tubulin (green) accumulates in the center of a nucleus (outlined in pink) from an aging cell. Normally, this protein is kept out of the nucleus with the help of gatekeepers known as nuclear pore complexes. But NIGMS-funded researchers found that wear and tear to long-lived compo... 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

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

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

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
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Note the wheel-like appearance of some of the rotavirus particles. The observance of such particles gave the virus its name ('rota' being the Latin word meaning wheel). Bar = 100 nanometers. Rotaviruses are nonenveloped, double-shelled viruses, making the virus stable in the environment.

Phot... Read More

This sculpture made of purple and clear glass beads depicts bacteriophage Phi174, a virus that infects bacteria. It rests on a surface that portrays an adaptive landscape, a conceptual visualization. The ridges represent the gene combinations associated with the greatest fitness levels of the vi... 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

This scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicts a grouping of Vibrio vulnificus bacteria; Mag. 13184x.
Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It normally lives in warm seawater and is part of a group of vibrios that are called "halophilic" because they ... Read More