Honorable Mention: Bacterial Starry Night

Photo by Peter Foerster, undergraduate student Charles E. Schmidt College of Science

My research involves the treatment of a bacterial tomato disease (tomato spot disease) with the treatment of a bacteriophage and calcium cation mixture. The image taken was of a 1:10 plant sample serial dilution plate. Fungi and bacteria can be seen on this plate, giving the illusion of a “starry night”. The bacteria closely resemble stars and the fungi being stardust.