False-colour scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the soil bacterium Streptomyces lividans, showing the formation of a spiral spore chain (orange). S

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False-colour scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the soil bacterium Streptomyces lividans, showing the formation of a spiral spore chain (orange). S. lividans is a natural producer of the antibiotic Streptomycin. A member of the Actinomycetes group, the bacterium shares many characteristics with the fungi. The bacteria grow in the soil as a branching network of filaments, known as a mycelium (yellow). They also produce aerial mycelium, from the tips of which develop spore chains of indefinite length. When spores of the kind shown here are mature, they rupture & are dispersed on the wind. Magnification: x6500 at size.

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Size: 3887px × 4876px
Photo credit: © DR JEREMY BURGESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: antibiotic, bacteria, bacterial, bacteriology, bacterium, false-coloured, formation, image, images, lividans, magnified, micro-organisms, microbe, microbes, microbiology, microscopic, photos, sem, soil, source, spore, strepto, streptomyces, streptomycin, subjects