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Image of the Day: Beautiful Bacteria

Artists paint with colorful microbes on agar palettes for the American Society for Microbiology's Agar Art Contest.

By The Scientist Staff | May 23, 2017

The artist, Ana Tsitsishvili from Tbilisi, Georgia, won third place with this arrangement of bacteria and fungi on brain-heart infusion agar. The common skin microbe, Staphylococcus epidermidis, is responsible for the white color; Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, common in milk, soil, and air, makes pink; Micrococcus luteus, frequently found in soil, water, air, and skin, is responsible for the lady's luscious yellow locks; Xanthomonas axonopodis, a pathogenic plant microbe, makes green. Combinations of these various microbes make up everything in between.

(Source: http://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/49485/image-of-the-day-beautiful-bacteria)