Bloomin' Bacteria

Looking a bit like a really expensive bunch of flowers, these 'blooms' are microscopic organisms bursting up from a river bed. Bacteria (highlighted in pink) and algae (blue) are thriving side-by-side in a biofilm – a sprawling community knitted together by chemicals like carbohydrates (red and yellow) and nucleic acids (green). Biofilms are good news for bacteria, but bad news in hospitals where invisible MRSA-containing biofilms can develop on unwashed surfaces. Understanding how biofilms blossom is crucial to tackling them. Researchers used confocal laser scanning microscopy to piece together this detailed image, revealing not only the diversity of growth, but how the living populations mingle and interact. A long list of cutting-edge microscopy techniques are now being repurposed for the job of watching biofilms – no easy task as the biofilms, and the surfaces they colonise, come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

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A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Image from work by Thomas Neu and John Lawrence
• Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Germany
• Copyright Elsevier 2015
• Research published in Trends from Microbiology, April 2015