False-colour scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Mycoplasmas are the smallest cellular organisms known (diameter mic

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False-colour scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Mycoplasmas are the smallest cellular organisms known (diameter microns). Similar to bacteria in some respects (the relationship is unclear - some authorities regard them as primitive bacteria), they differ in that they lack a true cell wall & hence display a variety of forms. Some species are pathogens of humans and animals (cattle, sheep & goats) living on the moist mucosal membranes of the respiratory tract. Mycoplasma pneumoniae, for example, causes a pneumonia-like disease in humans. Magnification: x26,000 at 6x6cm size, x13,000 at 35mm size.

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Size: 4240px × 4207px
Photo credit: © CNRI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: bacteria, bacterial, bacteriology, bacterium, false-coloured, micro-organisms, microbe, microbes, microbiology, mycoplasma, mycoplasmal, mycoplasmas, pneumonia, pneumoniae, sem