Slime mould, SEM
Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a fruiting body of the slime mould Licea minima releasing spores (reproductive cells, orange spheres) on a piece of decaying wood. The spores will germinate into free-living, single-celled amoeba. The amoeba aggregate to form a plasmodium, a large single cell with multiple nuclei. The plasmodium can move slowly, feeding on bacteria, fungi and decaying matter. In poor conditions the plasmodium forms fruiting bodies and the life cycle begins again. Slime moulds were once classified as fungi but are now classified as protozoa. Also seen are the hyphae (grey) of a fungus and some bacteria (green). Specimen from the Northern Black forest, Germany. Magnification: x400 when printed at 15cm wide.
Size: 6400px × 5513px
Location:
Photo credit: © EYE OF SCIENCE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -, bacteria, biological, biology, black, body, colored, coloured, debris, electron, false-colored, false-coloured, forest, fruiting, fungus, licea, microbiological, microbiology, micrograph, microscopy, minima, mold, mould, mycomycete, plasmodial, protist, protista, protozoa, protozoan, reproduction, reproductive, scanning, sem, slime, soil, spore, spores, woody
