Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

2020 Koch Institute Image Awards Microbial Multiverse

Studying the diversity and complexity of microbial communities

16 May 2020

Microbial Multiverse

Diversity is everywhere, from animal and plant populations down to the mix of microbes in a single glass of seawater. Each of these green blobs is a highly diverse microscopic community of bacteria grown from a single seawater sample, feeding on nutrient patches in the lab. Even though they all came from the same starting liquid, the individual colonies have gone their own way, each creating a distinctive pattern of growth. By using high-powered microscopy and genetic analysis to study these miniature ecosystems up close, researchers can start to unpick how individual groups of diverse bacteria interact with each other as their communities develop and grow. Understanding more about the rules governing the formation and evolution of these collectives could shed light on microbial societies in the wider world, including bacterial colonies that are important for the natural environment and those that may be harmful – or helpful – to human health.

Written by Kat Arney

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.