False-colour scanning electron micrograph of Chlamydia psittaci, a species of small, spherical bacteria causing abortion & lung disease (psitta- cosis

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False-colour scanning electron micrograph of Chlamydia psittaci, a species of small, spherical bacteria causing abortion & lung disease (psitta- cosis) in humans. Chlamydia species are atypical bacteria which are obligate intracellular para- sites, reproducing only inside cells. The life- cycle has two stages; this image shows the infect- ious elementary bodies which are stable and about 250 nanometres across. Once inside a cell they undergo reorganisation to form a large, (400- 1000nm) non-infectious active stage. This stage divides by binary fission, ultimately pro- ducing new elementary bodies. Mag: x5,900 at 35mm.

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Size: 3684px × 2558px
Photo credit: © MOREDUN ANIMAL HEALTH LTD/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: abortion, bacteria, bacterial, bacteriology, bacterium, chlamydia, chlamydial, infection, micro-organisms, microbe, microbes, microbiology, ornithosis, psittaci, psittacosis, sem