The artist, Ana Tsitsishvili from Tbilisi, Georgia, won third place with this arrangement of bacteria and fungi on brain-heart infusion agar. The common skin microbe, Staphylococcus epidermidis, is responsible for the white color; Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, common in milk, soil, and air, makes pink; Micrococcus luteus, frequently found in soil, water, air, and skin, is responsible for the lady's luscious yellow locks; Xanthomonas axonopodis, a pathogenic plant microbe, makes green. Combinations of these various microbes make up everything in between.
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