This is a color electron microscope image of the bacteriophage virus. This virus can attack certain bacteria that are harmful to the human body.
Photo by PHOTO RESEARCHERS INC.
Written by: Liz Langley
What would the dizzying microscopic world look like? Do microscopic organisms have horns? Don't look at it, don't know, look at it and be shocked!
water flea
The hydra is a tiny crustacean that looks like it wears a horn-shaped hat.
Anne Estes, a microbiologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and blogger for Mostly Microbes, tells us that when encountering predators such as backstroke bugs, 0.25 mm in size can make the body bigger (and certainly not mouth).
When flea encounter predators, they turn their bodies into bulky, spiked shapes.
Photo by BATES LITTLEHALES
Water fleas can also quickly grow spikes and covers, making the body larger, which undoubtedly greatly reduces its flavor.
bacteriophage
Estes felt that the beneficial little virus "looked like a lunar landing ship." Fortunately, this organism attacks bacteria that are harmful to the human body, such as E. coli and Salmonella.
Each phage has a "correspondence" mechanism that can only attack certain types of bacteria. Once a match is found, the phage injects its own DNA. DNA replicates itself, killing the host, releasing new phages to find and infect more bacteria.
Because the bacteria hunt other harmful bacteria, scientists have developed them as alternatives to antibiotics. Unlike antibiotics that "carpet bomb" bacteria in the human body, Estes says, all you need now is "send the little sniper in and kill the bad guys."
Flagella
Jay Nadeau, a physicist and microbiologist at McGill University in Montreal, told us in an email that the largest algae is only 1.8 millimeters long, and that many of them "have interesting shells with horn-like structures."
200-fold magnification of the flagella under the microscope.
Photograph by PAUL ZAHL
Nadeau said: The algae are best known for their horns. "They change shape according to the temperature and salinity of the seawater, which is said to control buoyancy.
Some of the horns of the flagella are stocked with cyanobacterial bacteria. They can provide nitrogen to flagella in case of nutrient deficiencies.
Although flagella has a bad reputation for triggering red tides, they actually have a beautiful side. Nadeau said: "Many flagella have their own bioluminescent system, which emits light when disturbed. ”
Estes added that about 1,555 known species of flagella are home in other animals, such as jellyfish or corals. Who doesn't have a roommate that people love and hate?
Rotifers
These little guys don't have horns, but they have another enviable decoration.
Tortoise beetles under the microscope.
Photo by DEAGOSTINI, GETTY IMAGES
Like the adorable tardigrades, rotifers can survive extreme conditions and even live as parasites on the surface or inside other organisms. They can be dehydrated first, and then hydrated after conditions improve (even years later).
Rotifers are only 0.025 mm long, but they have about 1,000 cells in their bodies, as well as organs and mouthparts.
Considering their superb life skills, this is not surprising!
(Translator: Sky4)