Image of Legionella pneumophila

Description:

Under a high magnification of 12000X, this colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicted a small grouping of Gram-negative Legionella pneumophila bacteria. Please see PHIL 11092 through 11152 for additional SEMs of these organisms, specifically PHIL 11123 for a black and white version of this image. It appears that a few are still joined to one another just prior to the completion of their reproductive process known as cell division. In some of these views you'll note the presence of flagellar appendages.

You’ll note that a number of these bacteria seem to display an elongated-rod morphology. L. pneumophila are known to most frequently exhibit this configuration when grown in broth, however, they can also elongate when plate-grown cells age, as it was in this case, especially when they’ve been refrigerated. The usual L. pneumophila morphology consists of stout, fat bacilli, which is the case for the vast majority of the organisms depicted here.
Created: 2009