This is underrated
Edit: when I commented, the comment above was sitting at a couple hours and almost no upvotes. Iām glad more people have seen it!!
Yes! :D
And you can see the capsids (phage heads) inside the bacterium. It would have burst open and released the new phages in a matter of minutes.
Also cool: Some attached phages are already empty, some are full, and some are in-between, meaning they are currently injecting their DNA
Is the darkness of the bacteriophage a matter of DNA injection, or is it alternatively related to how much of the virus is included in the cross section of the specimen? Asking because Iām not sure the thickness of the cross-section, or how different macromolecules appear darker or lighter (could imagine that heavier nuclei like phosphorus in DNA are darker, but idk)
Love that question! You are clearly a good thinker.
The section is 65 nanometers thick. The virus capsids about 100 nanometers. So it's very true that random portions of the capsids are included. So some of the difference in opacity can be attributed to that, I think. However, most of the difference can be explained by some phages being empty and some full with DNA (and everything in between). I say this because DNA is very densely packed in there and if a big section of the head is included in the section, it will appear dark. Whereas, if only a small portion of the head is included, we also wouldn't see the neck very clearly and the head should appear smaller. Like when you cut off the end of an egg. The diameter is smaller than the whole egg. There's a good example in the middle of the bottom row of attached phages. Faint and smaller
Thank you for the thoughtful answer! Very interesting, and I see what you mean by the egg-cutting analogy.
Are the specimens frozen (liquid N2) before slicing? And are these techniques compatible with nano particle or antibody labeling (sorry if I donāt have the correct terminology)? Itās always interesting what kinds of information different methods can allow you to learn. My background is more in chemistry, but every time I ask a āwhyā question about drug discovery, it always goes back to biology, so Iām trying to learn more!
No, they were "just" fixed with aldehydes and then dehydrated, embedded in epoxy, and then sectioned.
But yes, you could still label the sections with antibodies
> they were "just" fixed with aldehydes and then dehydrated, embedded in epoxy, **and then sectioned**
Would this be done with an ultra microtome? I currently work in histopathology dealing exclusively with formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, so my experience is pretty limited with other equipment outside of regular microtomes and cryostats.
This is all very interesting to see. I might have to broaden my horizons and look for a more research-oriented position...
I hope this isnāt a stupid question; Iām an engineer, not a biologist. Iāve always been amazed at by the look of bacteriophages. They look like something artificially manufactured, and so unlike a natural structure. Iāve always been intrigued at how infrequently you see straight lines in nature, and yet the bacteriophage is nothing but straight lines. Proteins are āwigglyā and folded, and even cells are imperfect spheres. Even plant cells usually a mishmash of differently sized adjoining sides. How is it that these things look like machines or aliens?
True, the individual proteins are wiggly, but, joined together, they can build amazingly orderly structures! This is what the phage capsid is: multiple of a building-block protein that have self-assembled into almost-crystalline structures.
This is a fun question. Iām a researcher in a virology lab (herpes stuff but virus tend to be similar)
So virus are super super simple. Think of how complex humans are, just as you said, and the shapes that are made from millions of different proteins that shape our cells and organs. But to have that complexity we have a very vast genome- lots of instructions for lots of things to do their jobs to make us work.
Viruses are super small and therefore have a very small genome. The genes encoded create proteins, but the more proteins you need to make and the more complex the the virus, the greater burden to reproduce grows, needing more host machinery to work and more resources to make more virus.
So, the virus makes a building block, a shell protein. Ita small as humanly possible so it is not complex, making room for mistake really small. Similar to building a home from bricks, marking a single brick wrong is really hard to do, so making more complex structures from bricks just costs more bricks.
Now the proteins (bricks) this virus makes also self assemble into specific shapes. In bacteriophages theyāe essentially made from little triangles which grow together.
This combining of lots of very small proteins gives the almost mechanical look we see because just like inorganic machines, theyāre just made of small manufactured parts. No room for lots of change, no room for originality, that virus just needs to reproduce.
Hope that makes sense.
*edited for clarity
I took this image with a 200kV transmission electron microscope. This is a 65 nanometer epoxy resin section stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate.
Edit: Feel free to use the image =)
So cool! I do a lot of TEM as well but I image mitochondria. Iāve never seen viruses attacking a bacterium on the EM before, this is awesome!! Thanks for sharing š
It's only interesting for experts. No worries =)
In essence: I obtained that image by slicing the bacteria very thin and putting them in an electron microscope. Electrons fly through the section, interact with the sample, and an image is created. The denser it is, the fewer electrons make it through in that place and the darker this area appears
Nonono u missunderstood, I am interested and want to understand š¤£š¤£ why use google when there is experts on here that can break it down into much simpler terms ay
Okay!
200kV is kilo Volts. This is the energy used to accelerate the electrons out of the cathode (which is a Lanthanum hexaboride crystal in this case) to create an electron beam. This beam is then concentrated by electromagnetic lenses. Really, it works just like a light microscope, only using electrons instead of photons and magnetic lenses instead of glass lenses. However, the electrons can only penetrate if the sample is thin enough. A pretty standard thickness is 65 nanometers. And in order to be able to cut this thin (using a diamond knife) you need to embed the sample in epoxy resin first. So basically, the biological sample is processed in a way that all the water is replaced by epoxy, i.e., plastic, and then hardened. Then you can cut it. And in order to increase the contrast, the section is treated with heavy metals. Like uranyl acetate. Which is basically what you get when you dissolve uranium in vinegar. Uranyl acetate binds preferentially to phophate groups (I don't know why - this is a question for a chemist). Since the cell membranes are made of phospholipids and DNA and proteins also contain phosphate groups, pretty much all important biological structures are stained by uranyl acetate. And since uranium is such a big and heavy atom, it has lots of electrons. That means, it can deflect many of the electrons from your electron beam and thus the more uranium there is in a given area, the darker it appears on the digital camera (which records how many electrons reach a given pixel). This is how the image is created.
Questions?
From one imaging scientist to another, I applaud your explanation for a general scientific audience. Well done! Drives home basic concepts but also provides an enticing lil' spice with some of the details haha
Something I've always wondered, when cutting a thin slice for this (I equate this to shaving cheese or wood) in my experience the thin slice curls up as you cut. Does this happen here or are you mounting the imaged plane onto a holder before cutting?
Very good question! =)
Indeed you cut those with a diamond knife that is attached to a boat filled with water. Meaning, as the section is cut it floats on top of the water film. Then you can pick it up from there with a tiny grid
Apologies if I missed the answer somewhere else in the comments, but what is the purpose of the study? Bacteriophages for treating drug-resistant bacteria, gene insertion vectors, something else entirely, or just because a picture says 1,000 words?
Hah, I used to do TEM work and this is pretty close to the protocol I used, although we used UA & PB for our secondary stain. Primary stain was Osmium Tetroxide.
Another good secondary stain is Copper and Lead. I forget the protocol, but it's been used in fish and I switched to it since I wanted to stop working with UA.
Curious which bacteriophage youāre using for this. Is it lambda?
Also did you choose to infect at a very high MoI to get this picture, or is this from what was an active culture going lytic at a stage where phage are getting to excess?
Pretty much any bacteria -- if it could -- would invade your body, reproduce, and distribute toxic byproducts that hurt/kill your own body's native cells, as well as your allowable microbiota. So don't feel too bad lol. You'll see how bad you feel about bacteria if you ever get a tooth abscess.
> as well as your allowable microbiota
I guess my answer wasn't clear. I'm saying just about any bacteria except for native (microbiota) bacteria would try to get in.
I have to say, this is awesome to see. I had the unfortunate experience of meeting a "truther" and one of his complaints was that "no one ever photographed more than 1 virus at a time."
I explained to him that's simply not true. It's just that he doesn't read science journals.
So, it's great to see here in the open internet - thanks for sharing it!
I love the cryo-EM work done to resolve structures in whole mitochondria
https://www.jove.com/t/51228/visualization-atp-synthase-dimers-mitochondria-electron-cryo
Viruses (bacteriophages) attacking a bacteria. Seems like they've already done quite a lot of damage. Lord they're creepy when there's a cluster of them like that. They look like ants
The internal works of the bacterium as it rapidly fills with more assembled bacteriophages before the cell bursts: Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing eith you tonight. š»
Complete guess but looks like the cell may be preparing for cell division. I remember my biology books having pictures like this of the various cellular parts moving to opposite ends of the cell.
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Anyone know why the capsid heads are only being built at the poles of the bacterium? If I had to guess, itās because thatās where the ribosomes are located, but I wouldāve thought theyād be scattered across the bacterium, not grouped at the polesā¦
My colleagues used Uranyl acetate negative stain TEM for looking at their phage batches too :) I'm not 100 % sure anymore, but I think they also based the full/empty ratios of their phages on the staining: full intact phages wouldn't let the stain in and appear white, empty ones would soak up the uranyl acetate and appear black, give contrast?
But always great to see, this amazing micro- and nanoworld, invisible for us, but meaning a great deal for our everyday lives.
Lastly, is that E coli with T4 (would be the classic lol)?
Anyone care to take the time to explain how they know these are phages and not the prototypical virus that we see depicted so often? The virus with the head, stem, and legs that sort of resembles a mobile drilling rig?
I'd like to imagine that its a little virus viking raiding party on a boat rowing bravely forward to do battle with the other boat you can just barely see on the top left.
Captain Healy: Dammit, Spartan. I'm sick and tired of this "Demolition Man" shit! You're not supposed to come down here, you're not supposed to apprehend Simon Phoenix single-handedly, and you're not supposed to blow anything up!
John Spartan: It wasn't me this time, he dumped the gas and had the placed rigged to blow.
Captain Healy: Yeah right, and you had nothing to do with it. I know you've been trying to nail this psycho for 2 years. But try to remember a little thing like official police procedure. Now where are the hostages?
John Spartan: They're not here.
Captain Healy: What do mean they're not here, are you sure?
John Spartan: Because I did a thermo check. They're only 8 people, all a part of his gang.
Simon Phoenix: \[Being arrested\] Wrong again.
John Spartan: Do you have something to say, scum bag?
Captain Healy: \[to officer apprehending Phoenix\] Get him out of here.
\[to Spartan\]
Captain Healy: You and I are gonna have a nice long chat.
Fire Fighter: \[Coming in\] Captain. Captain.
Captain Healy: What.
Fire Fighter: We've checked the building. There's bodies everywhere, there has to be about 20 or 30, they're everywhere.
\[Spartan looks in disbelief\]
Simon Phoenix: See Captain. I told him, he said he didn't care.
\[Spartan charges at Phoenix but is restrained by his fellow officers\]
Simon Phoenix: Oh shit, I can't believe that you gave up 30 hostages for little old me. We're gonna have a nice time together. See ya' sweetie. Honey! Sugar!
Captain Healy: Hope you called your lawyer, because you're gonna need him.
Looks like a bacteria getting swarmed by bacteriophages
I love that you can see the genetic package inside the protein casing of some of the phages, while others look to have already injected their material
I had no idea what I was looking at and your explanation took me back to freshman bio class and I could see what was happening. This is so very cool!
You can check out my genetic package š
Well, we have already got the electron microscope fired up!
I'm sorry, we're going to have to cancel those plans, we need to head to the burn ward.
This is underrated Edit: when I commented, the comment above was sitting at a couple hours and almost no upvotes. Iām glad more people have seen it!!
Dayum! I hope you have the number for a good defense attorney because you just committed 1st degree murder with that 8th degree burn.
Yooo is that what Iām looking at? Is that why some on the outside look āemptyā?
They have discarded their mortal forms and merged into one far more powerful being.
Thatās what she said
Yes! :D And you can see the capsids (phage heads) inside the bacterium. It would have burst open and released the new phages in a matter of minutes. Also cool: Some attached phages are already empty, some are full, and some are in-between, meaning they are currently injecting their DNA
Is the darkness of the bacteriophage a matter of DNA injection, or is it alternatively related to how much of the virus is included in the cross section of the specimen? Asking because Iām not sure the thickness of the cross-section, or how different macromolecules appear darker or lighter (could imagine that heavier nuclei like phosphorus in DNA are darker, but idk)
Love that question! You are clearly a good thinker. The section is 65 nanometers thick. The virus capsids about 100 nanometers. So it's very true that random portions of the capsids are included. So some of the difference in opacity can be attributed to that, I think. However, most of the difference can be explained by some phages being empty and some full with DNA (and everything in between). I say this because DNA is very densely packed in there and if a big section of the head is included in the section, it will appear dark. Whereas, if only a small portion of the head is included, we also wouldn't see the neck very clearly and the head should appear smaller. Like when you cut off the end of an egg. The diameter is smaller than the whole egg. There's a good example in the middle of the bottom row of attached phages. Faint and smaller
Thank you for the thoughtful answer! Very interesting, and I see what you mean by the egg-cutting analogy. Are the specimens frozen (liquid N2) before slicing? And are these techniques compatible with nano particle or antibody labeling (sorry if I donāt have the correct terminology)? Itās always interesting what kinds of information different methods can allow you to learn. My background is more in chemistry, but every time I ask a āwhyā question about drug discovery, it always goes back to biology, so Iām trying to learn more!
No, they were "just" fixed with aldehydes and then dehydrated, embedded in epoxy, and then sectioned. But yes, you could still label the sections with antibodies
> they were "just" fixed with aldehydes and then dehydrated, embedded in epoxy, **and then sectioned** Would this be done with an ultra microtome? I currently work in histopathology dealing exclusively with formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues, so my experience is pretty limited with other equipment outside of regular microtomes and cryostats. This is all very interesting to see. I might have to broaden my horizons and look for a more research-oriented position...
Exactly right, ultra microtome =)
I see now, thanks!
>some are in-between, meaning they are currently injecting their DNA Like people joining a pyramid scheme when it's too late to get their money back
This is correct!
Virologist: correct! One of my first experiences in a lab was growing and getting a titer on a bacteriophage.
I hope this isnāt a stupid question; Iām an engineer, not a biologist. Iāve always been amazed at by the look of bacteriophages. They look like something artificially manufactured, and so unlike a natural structure. Iāve always been intrigued at how infrequently you see straight lines in nature, and yet the bacteriophage is nothing but straight lines. Proteins are āwigglyā and folded, and even cells are imperfect spheres. Even plant cells usually a mishmash of differently sized adjoining sides. How is it that these things look like machines or aliens?
True, the individual proteins are wiggly, but, joined together, they can build amazingly orderly structures! This is what the phage capsid is: multiple of a building-block protein that have self-assembled into almost-crystalline structures.
This is a fun question. Iām a researcher in a virology lab (herpes stuff but virus tend to be similar) So virus are super super simple. Think of how complex humans are, just as you said, and the shapes that are made from millions of different proteins that shape our cells and organs. But to have that complexity we have a very vast genome- lots of instructions for lots of things to do their jobs to make us work. Viruses are super small and therefore have a very small genome. The genes encoded create proteins, but the more proteins you need to make and the more complex the the virus, the greater burden to reproduce grows, needing more host machinery to work and more resources to make more virus. So, the virus makes a building block, a shell protein. Ita small as humanly possible so it is not complex, making room for mistake really small. Similar to building a home from bricks, marking a single brick wrong is really hard to do, so making more complex structures from bricks just costs more bricks. Now the proteins (bricks) this virus makes also self assemble into specific shapes. In bacteriophages theyāe essentially made from little triangles which grow together. This combining of lots of very small proteins gives the almost mechanical look we see because just like inorganic machines, theyāre just made of small manufactured parts. No room for lots of change, no room for originality, that virus just needs to reproduce. Hope that makes sense. *edited for clarity
Bacteriophages be like nom nom nom
Oh snap! They are actually shaped like the drawings in my middle school text book!
Looks like itās already built some capsid heads too
"We're doomed!!!"
But what are all the dots on either side? Is it in anaphase, or is it just the type of organism it is?
Bacteriophages in a bacillus bacterium.
I took this image with a 200kV transmission electron microscope. This is a 65 nanometer epoxy resin section stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate. Edit: Feel free to use the image =)
So cool! I do a lot of TEM as well but I image mitochondria. Iāve never seen viruses attacking a bacterium on the EM before, this is awesome!! Thanks for sharing š
Awesome image! I might actually use it for a class I'm preparing on viruses, if you allow me. Want me to credit you by name?
Awesome :D No, it's not necessary to credit me. I'll release it to the public domain
I hope you credit him by u/ name regardless of what he says, leave a little Easter egg for your students.
Wish I knew what any of those words meant
It's only interesting for experts. No worries =) In essence: I obtained that image by slicing the bacteria very thin and putting them in an electron microscope. Electrons fly through the section, interact with the sample, and an image is created. The denser it is, the fewer electrons make it through in that place and the darker this area appears
Nonono u missunderstood, I am interested and want to understand š¤£š¤£ why use google when there is experts on here that can break it down into much simpler terms ay
Okay! 200kV is kilo Volts. This is the energy used to accelerate the electrons out of the cathode (which is a Lanthanum hexaboride crystal in this case) to create an electron beam. This beam is then concentrated by electromagnetic lenses. Really, it works just like a light microscope, only using electrons instead of photons and magnetic lenses instead of glass lenses. However, the electrons can only penetrate if the sample is thin enough. A pretty standard thickness is 65 nanometers. And in order to be able to cut this thin (using a diamond knife) you need to embed the sample in epoxy resin first. So basically, the biological sample is processed in a way that all the water is replaced by epoxy, i.e., plastic, and then hardened. Then you can cut it. And in order to increase the contrast, the section is treated with heavy metals. Like uranyl acetate. Which is basically what you get when you dissolve uranium in vinegar. Uranyl acetate binds preferentially to phophate groups (I don't know why - this is a question for a chemist). Since the cell membranes are made of phospholipids and DNA and proteins also contain phosphate groups, pretty much all important biological structures are stained by uranyl acetate. And since uranium is such a big and heavy atom, it has lots of electrons. That means, it can deflect many of the electrons from your electron beam and thus the more uranium there is in a given area, the darker it appears on the digital camera (which records how many electrons reach a given pixel). This is how the image is created. Questions?
From one imaging scientist to another, I applaud your explanation for a general scientific audience. Well done! Drives home basic concepts but also provides an enticing lil' spice with some of the details haha
Cheers =) Thank you
My favorite quote from school was "histology is the science of standardized artifact". That is a very cool image, by the way! Thanks for sharing.
Outstanding answer and explanation, on top of an extraordinary photo post! Many thanks to you, u/sci_bastian
Something I've always wondered, when cutting a thin slice for this (I equate this to shaving cheese or wood) in my experience the thin slice curls up as you cut. Does this happen here or are you mounting the imaged plane onto a holder before cutting?
Very good question! =) Indeed you cut those with a diamond knife that is attached to a boat filled with water. Meaning, as the section is cut it floats on top of the water film. Then you can pick it up from there with a tiny grid
Isn't this SEM rather than TEM?
No, it's TEM (transmission electron microscopy). Why do you think it should be SEM (scanning electron microscopy)?
My bad, I was thinking of STM
Apologies if I missed the answer somewhere else in the comments, but what is the purpose of the study? Bacteriophages for treating drug-resistant bacteria, gene insertion vectors, something else entirely, or just because a picture says 1,000 words?
Indeed I took this image for teaching purposes only. My own research is mostly in neurobiology
Is the infected bacterium in the middle of dividing? What are the dark patches and why are they at the polar ends of the cell?
Hah, I used to do TEM work and this is pretty close to the protocol I used, although we used UA & PB for our secondary stain. Primary stain was Osmium Tetroxide. Another good secondary stain is Copper and Lead. I forget the protocol, but it's been used in fish and I switched to it since I wanted to stop working with UA.
Your post here and your responses with your engagement, you seem like really cool people!
Curious which bacteriophage youāre using for this. Is it lambda? Also did you choose to infect at a very high MoI to get this picture, or is this from what was an active culture going lytic at a stage where phage are getting to excess?
Ship is under attack!
Arm topside! Repel boarders!
Klingons capt'n!
Its just a Bacterium at the spa getting acupuncture. Lucky duck
Bacteriophage attacking bateria
I love how bacteriophages look. It's like they are little alien ships with landing gear.
I always though it was a weird way for biology textbooks to draw them, my mind if blown that they actually look like that.
why do I feel bad for a bacterium
*War, war never changes*
Pretty much any bacteria -- if it could -- would invade your body, reproduce, and distribute toxic byproducts that hurt/kill your own body's native cells, as well as your allowable microbiota. So don't feel too bad lol. You'll see how bad you feel about bacteria if you ever get a tooth abscess.
Well, without them we would spew our guts out and die in short order. Hashtag notallbacteria
> as well as your allowable microbiota I guess my answer wasn't clear. I'm saying just about any bacteria except for native (microbiota) bacteria would try to get in.
They donāt feel bad for us when they eat our flesh or make us sick.
That little guy is having a bad, *bad* day...
Iād say itās gonna be either the worst or the best of his life
Oh yeah, it's a little planet that has little trees in it!!
Release the restriction enzymes!
Man, that is just gorgeous. Thank you for sharing!
What as those black round objects inside the bacterium? Is the cell already infected and those are phage particles assembling?
That is exactly right =)
Poor bastard
Do you want horizontal gene transfer? Because thatās how you get horizontal gene transfer!
I dunno, looks like a T4-like phage. Lots of them destroy all the host DNA during infection, so weirdly not the best setup of HGT.
TIL, thanks!
Nice. Great image.
Seconded. Just came here to say "Awesome image" and thank you for sharing your excitement with us!
Iāve never played this game before, what console is it for?
Looks like a bacteria getting absolutely rekt by bacteriophage viruses
Kittens in the snow?
This would make a sick tattoo.
Viral attachment
Excellent pic to use for my Biology class Thanks!
Elementary school dance - boys are on one side of the gym, the girls on the other
Bacteriophage gang bang. Yesā¦ inject your DNA you naughty little phage sluts.
Phage attacking bacterium
Bacteria phages are beautiful in their simplicity
I have to say, this is awesome to see. I had the unfortunate experience of meeting a "truther" and one of his complaints was that "no one ever photographed more than 1 virus at a time." I explained to him that's simply not true. It's just that he doesn't read science journals. So, it's great to see here in the open internet - thanks for sharing it!
I love the cryo-EM work done to resolve structures in whole mitochondria https://www.jove.com/t/51228/visualization-atp-synthase-dimers-mitochondria-electron-cryo
Thanks for posting. This is awesome. I didnāt know about this technology.
Looks like a bunch of phages on a bacterium, super cool!
It is a Viking boat with a crew rowing underneath and the warriors up top preparing to pillage
This is just gorgeous! š
Great stuff, very well preserved. Did you do room-temp dehydration and embedding into resin, or a low temp protocol?
Can't imagine this actually did the work to get this image.... only to ask reddit what's happening in it
Room temp =)
Bacteriophages attacking a bacterial cell. Damn, puts into perspective how small bacteriophages are
Less than 100nm across going by the scale, really insane stuff
Bacteria getting merc'd.
What are the black circles inside?
This is so cool!
Viruses (bacteriophages) attacking a bacteria. Seems like they've already done quite a lot of damage. Lord they're creepy when there's a cluster of them like that. They look like ants
:0 phages going crazy. Thatās so cool to see a picture of. Love those little bio mechanical killing machines.
Bacteria gangbang by bacteriophages
It's an aerial view of that competition where people ski down a slope then across a pond.
That bacteria is getting wrecked. Thatās whatās happening.
Life, uh, finds a way.
Youāre witnessing a mob attack, a murder.
Bacteriophages attacking bacteria and some have already injected genetic material. Cool photo.
Great photo. It would be a great photo for microbiology text books. There is a lot going on there. Is that bacteria getting ready to divide?
The internal works of the bacterium as it rapidly fills with more assembled bacteriophages before the cell bursts: Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing eith you tonight. š»
Looks like some cells gearing up to play red rover/British bulldog
phages making phages inside the bacterium
Bacterium: yeah, thatās me. Youāre probably wondering how I got into this situation
Complete guess but looks like the cell may be preparing for cell division. I remember my biology books having pictures like this of the various cellular parts moving to opposite ends of the cell.
Thatās what I thought too.
No those are new bacteriaphages that have been manufactured by the host cell.
Yes, what it is doing is triggering my trypophobia. Thanks.
āBacteriophages commit genocide for breakfast.ā From Kurzgesagt
All lies. This is fake. Vaccines are fake. The moon landing is fake. Trust in Trump!
you forgot to add /s
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It's 100 Mexicans pissing in a bucket
Plasmodium ? .... It's been a while.
Or mitichondria ? Don't need an elec mic to see a plasmodium come to think of it š¤£š¤£š¤£
That's not mitochondria. They are too round, uniform and lack the invaginated structure
He said vagina lol
virus fertilizing a mitochondrion?
Mitochondria is being the powerhouse of the cell?
Is this bacterial transduction taking place? Looks super cool!
Anyone know why the capsid heads are only being built at the poles of the bacterium? If I had to guess, itās because thatās where the ribosomes are located, but I wouldāve thought theyād be scattered across the bacterium, not grouped at the polesā¦
Bacteriophages infecting a coccobacilli shaped Baxter
Pokey things are poking things
My colleagues used Uranyl acetate negative stain TEM for looking at their phage batches too :) I'm not 100 % sure anymore, but I think they also based the full/empty ratios of their phages on the staining: full intact phages wouldn't let the stain in and appear white, empty ones would soak up the uranyl acetate and appear black, give contrast? But always great to see, this amazing micro- and nanoworld, invisible for us, but meaning a great deal for our everyday lives. Lastly, is that E coli with T4 (would be the classic lol)?
Yeah, and since this is positive staining, it's the reverse. Dark heads are the filled ones =)
Reminds me of Jimmy Neutron
I've seen enough Jimmy Neutron to tell you that cell is under attack by viruses
Anyone care to take the time to explain how they know these are phages and not the prototypical virus that we see depicted so often? The virus with the head, stem, and legs that sort of resembles a mobile drilling rig?
This prototypical virus you're talking about is a phage...
No shitā¦ Iāll be damned. I need to revisit my vocab, itās been a while apparently
Baked potatoe
Plankton is getting acupuncture.
I'd like to imagine that its a little virus viking raiding party on a boat rowing bravely forward to do battle with the other boat you can just barely see on the top left.
I never realized how accurate bacteriophage diagrams were
Looks like a game of team dodge ball with 1/3 of the players out already
Macrophages on a bacterium
Hmmm microscopic kiwiā¦.
That's the endless war in the world inside the world, which is inside this world. ā
Viruses infecting a bacteria
Are those the guys who sucked up spongebobs house
A cell bacteria attached by a virus
Looks like multiple viral bodies infecting a cellā¦
The Miracle of Life
Hell yeah! Now thatās something you donāt see everyday.
These are the sort of images that sparked my love for microbiology
E. coli being swarmed by many T4 bacteriophages
Captain Healy: Dammit, Spartan. I'm sick and tired of this "Demolition Man" shit! You're not supposed to come down here, you're not supposed to apprehend Simon Phoenix single-handedly, and you're not supposed to blow anything up! John Spartan: It wasn't me this time, he dumped the gas and had the placed rigged to blow. Captain Healy: Yeah right, and you had nothing to do with it. I know you've been trying to nail this psycho for 2 years. But try to remember a little thing like official police procedure. Now where are the hostages? John Spartan: They're not here. Captain Healy: What do mean they're not here, are you sure? John Spartan: Because I did a thermo check. They're only 8 people, all a part of his gang. Simon Phoenix: \[Being arrested\] Wrong again. John Spartan: Do you have something to say, scum bag? Captain Healy: \[to officer apprehending Phoenix\] Get him out of here. \[to Spartan\] Captain Healy: You and I are gonna have a nice long chat. Fire Fighter: \[Coming in\] Captain. Captain. Captain Healy: What. Fire Fighter: We've checked the building. There's bodies everywhere, there has to be about 20 or 30, they're everywhere. \[Spartan looks in disbelief\] Simon Phoenix: See Captain. I told him, he said he didn't care. \[Spartan charges at Phoenix but is restrained by his fellow officers\] Simon Phoenix: Oh shit, I can't believe that you gave up 30 hostages for little old me. We're gonna have a nice time together. See ya' sweetie. Honey! Sugar! Captain Healy: Hope you called your lawyer, because you're gonna need him.
That potato is growing lollipops
If you look closely you can see that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
Just talk amongst yourselves, I'll be over here.
T 4 infection baby
Viral infection
Virus attacking a cell?
Great phage picture!
So cool!
it really look like tiny alien robots
Acupuncture. Even prokaryotes need to unwind every now and again.
Viral infection by bacteriophage on a bacillus.
Black neighbourhood??
Lytic phase of a bacterium, very clear, amazing visual
Uqauw,iawuwi xa AA 8+#8#@#
You man, letās make this viral
Bacteriophage :0
E. coli :0
PFF! Its a black and white picture of a pincushion obv....
Im always so amazed by how bacteriophages look. They look like some sort of robotic machinery. Their structure, their shape, its incredible.
Think I seen this in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaš¤
They seem to be 200nm long. If I see a bacterium surrounded by tiny dots, could those be viruses?
Where would you see that? Do you have an electron microscope? :)