what is this? (Planctomyces Bekefii)

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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nanometer
Posts: 324
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:14 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ

what is this? (Planctomyces Bekefii)

Post by nanometer »

I ran into a bunch of these today. They all seemed to have 6 spheres connected by 5um stalks to a center point. These were with a 40x objective. Any help appreciated. I should have moved to oil, but ran out of time.

Image

My first thought was codosiga, but these are much smaller with no transparent vase structure visible on any of them (phase halos aside).

Steve
Last edited by nanometer on Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

actinophrys
Posts: 57
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:22 pm
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Post by actinophrys »

Interesting! This looks a lot like Planctomyces, one of very few bacteria with distinctively shaped colonies. But while the size is right, I don't know why they would all have 6 cells. Where were they from?

nanometer
Posts: 324
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:14 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ

Post by nanometer »

Grabbed from a pond at local park here in Tucson AZ. It was from a thick top algae bloom. Thanks for the idea about what it might be.

edit: Geepers, googled some pics of planctomyces bekefii, and that sure looks like this. And it looks like I captured some budding. Amazing, I never saw anything like this before. What a weird configuration.
Last edited by nanometer on Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

grgh
Posts: 372
Joined: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:55 am
Location: Lancashire. UK

Post by grgh »

Lovely find.

I've just spent over an hour with researching this particular bacteria.
Now there is some good reading ideas for you to look at, just how rare a find you have acquired.

Recommend the article by Cornell University Micro Department.
used to do astronomy.
and photography.
Zeiss Universal Phase contrast.
Zeiss PMII
B&L stereo zoom.

nanometer
Posts: 324
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 10:14 pm
Location: Tucson, AZ

Post by nanometer »

Found another tonight:

40x with 5-image stack:

Image

I got one shot at 100x before the water evaporated:

Image

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