Confocal Micrograph

The colors in this image identify distinct lineages of Bacillus subtilis bacteria initially mixed randomly on a Petri dish.  As the bacteria grow, they organize themselves into distinct and reproducible communities illustrated by the colors shown here.  Researchers took this image as part of a project designing artificial genetic circuits in bacterial colonies and plant tissues.

This image appears in the Koch Institute Public Galleries as part of a partnership between the Koch Institute and Wellcome Images, a London-based world leader in the collection of biomedical images.  To learn more about Wellcome Images, visit their website at: http://images.wellcome.ac.uk/.