Life under microscope

The colourful world of bacteria.
Discovered by the Estonian microbiologist Eeva Heinaru.

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Art of bacteria

Bacteria is something we would generally like to avoid but life without bacteria would not be possible. These images of bacteria have been taken by Eeva Heinaru over the course of 15 years as a result of hundreds of environmental science projects.

15 years of experimentation

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: Pseudomonas fluorescens 8R2ACX

: Pseudomonas fluorescens 8R2ACX

: Bacteria from river water

: Janthinobacterium lividum

Hundreds of environmental projects

Work in the laboratory

Invisible to the eye

Captured with a bright field (light), phase-contrast or fluorescence microscope, using different illumination and contrast methods, the smears (x1000) from different (contaminated and non-contaminated) environments, such as the water, air or soil, reveal fascinating and colourful patterns.

Bacterial strains

All identified bacterial strains are maintained in the Collection of Environmental and Laboratory Microbial Strains (CELMS) available in the Estonian Electronic Microbial Database.

About the author

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Contact

eeva.heinaru@ut.ee

University of Tartu, Estonia