Photomicrographs with numerous filamentous bacteria
Let's see what happens under the
microscope
These photomicrographs were taken from
wastewater samples. Bright Field, Gram Stains, and
Neisser Stains were used. Most of the
objectives used were 400x or 1000x.
Come take a closer look at the amazing
world under the microscope!
Test yourself and see if you can
identify these filaments. If you cannot, you can always cheat and find the
corresponding filament sheets
and compare!!! We have helped you out a little and named some of
the filaments. See how good you are if you can guess or identify the
rest..........
ok, here is a filament that stumped many
it
was Gram negative, Neisser variable
The cells were extremely large, rectangular with a sheath present
This picture has Type 012N as well
as Type 0041
one has a sheath and one does not
This is a Neisser Stain
Be careful when you stain filaments
sometimes
when they dry, they filament shape gets distorted
this is actually two filaments, Type 021N and 1863
1863 has a more distinct, rounded or oval shaped cells, usually short and
free floating filaments, 021N can get long, and with a wet mount, has flat,
ribbon like twisting that is obvious at 1000x
Here are these two filaments Neisser stained
always use first your wet mount at 1000x, then Gram and Neisser to
compare the types of filaments present and correlate the same filaments in
all three sides
it takes practice, but gets easier
Type 021N and N. Limicola
This photos has Thiothrix I, Type 0041and Type 0914 as
the three main filaments Can you pick out each?
Here is a good picture to see how filaments can compare in
staining, size, shape and sheath visibility. U in the right is Type
021N, dark, bent and with disc like cells. The far right bottom has
Thiothrix II with gram variable staining, above that is the very thin, with
sheath Type 1851 and to the far left is and Top is Thiothrix I.
Remember, there almost always is more than one type of filament present
in a system.
Here is Type 1851, Type 1863 and distorted 021N
Look at how huge the oval cells in the filament in the
center are compared to the other filaments
This is fingered Zooglea on the right
This little guy is called hypomicrobium. It looks like a
bean on a stalk. It can be found in low D.O. septic conditions. Usually seen
when solids are held too long in a clarifier.
Here it is easy to see the staining on the high
polysaccharide coating
Gram stains on Fingered Zooglea
Tetrads are clusters of 4 cells
they are usually free
floating and can cause TSS problems. Check your nutrients- usually
Nitrogen
Here is a really good photo of three filaments that are Gram
negative with sheath and attached growth
check out the comparisons in size
The largest filament on bottom- Type 0041, then above it perpendicular is
Type 0675 and then to the left is the smaller Type 1851 with alternating
perpendicular attached growth.
Can you see the difference?
Here is the Neisser stained version with filaments in
different position, can you match them?
Here is some serious bridging with Type 021N in the high
growth phase
OK, here is the real test, Type 0675, 0041, 1701,1851 and N.
Limicola are all present, can you tell which is which?
Serious bundles
More to come soon!
Enlargements: If you liked these pictures and want to see
more check out the pages below.
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