Images Dated 22nd August 2002

White bread mould, SEM

White bread mould. Coloured scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of the fruiting bodies of two types of mould growing on white bread. The moulds are Penicillium sp. and Mucor mucedo. Spores from these moulds circulate freely in the air. On a favourable medium, they germinate and form an extensive network of threads (hyphae) that absorb food for growth and spore production. The Mucor spores are borne in the sac-like bodies seen, which are called sporangia. The Penicillium spores, known as conidia, are borne directly on special hyphae called conidiophores. Magnification: x40 at 6x7cm size

© SUSUMU NISHINAGA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Coloured SEM of foraminifera test; Elphidium sp

Foraminiferan shell. Coloured scanning electron micrograph of the shell of the single-celled protozoan Elphidium crispum, order Foraminiferida. Foraminiferans construct and inhabit shells which are composed of several chambers and usually penetrated by pores through which the cellular contents is extruded. The organisms live in the sea or salt-water lakes. Foraminiferan shells form an important component of chalk and of many deep sea oozes. In previous geological ages Foraminifera occurred in such enormous numbers that their shells, largely of calcium carbonate, have formed immense fossil deposits seen today as limestone. Magnification: x65 at 5x7cm size. x210 at 10x8

© Andrew Syred/Science Photo Library