ow. fern boy

Herpetosiphon aurantiacus is a filament-like bacterium that can rapidly glide across surfaces. H. aurantiacus are facultative predators, hunting other bacteria by secreting digestive enzymes when nutrients become scarce. Interestingly, H. aurantiacus hunts in a “wolf pack” strategy: the bacteria will not hunt unless a certain number of H. aurantiacus is present. When this number is reached, the bacteria will swarm and flood their prey with a high concentration of enzymes.

Image by Dr. Michael Shribak and Irina Arkhipova, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Spin cycle. Organelles within the green algae Chara corallina are slowly shifted around by the steady fluid motion called cytoplasmic streaming. Vertical height of this single cell is about 1 millimeter.

Credit: R. E. Goldstein/Univ. of Cambridge

Source: How Cytoplasm Generates its Own Smooth Flow, American Physical Society.

Check out the microbiology-inspired quilts and textile art of Karen Kamenetzky. Hand-stitched explorations of the microscopic world? Yes, please.

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Fluorescent actin bundles growing on a surface of coated beads.

Image by Dennis Breitsprecher.

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