Image of the Day: Bacterial Blues

A photograph of microbes producing the antibiotic actinorhodin is one of many images on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History this winter.

Written byCatherine Offord

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ABOVE: Streptomyces coelicolor colonies producing actinorhodin
TOBIAS KIESER, JOHN INNES CENTRE

Many of the antibiotics used in clinical medicine are derived from a bacterial genus called Streptomyces. Actinorhodin, an antibiotic produced by S. coelicolor, has a distinctive blue color at alkaline pH, but turns red under acidic conditions.

A photograph of S. coelicolor in all its blue splendor is among multiple images, sculptures, movies, and biological specimens on display in the Bacterial World exhibit at Oxford University Museum of Natural History until May 28, 2019.

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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