Like archaea, bacteria are prokaryotic – unicellular, and having no cell nucleus or other membrane-bound organelle. Bacteria are microscopic, with a few extremely rare exceptions, such as Thiomargarita namibiensis. [53] Bacteria function and reproduce as individual cells, but they can often aggregate in multicellular colonies. [54]

Pathologists examine samples under a microscope to help determine the characteristics of diseases and infectious agents. Different types of traditional and special histochemical stains help to highlight bacteria, fungi, and other pathogens in tissues.

The microscope images in this section show different bacterial structures visible using the light microscope. All images were photographed at 1000x magification.

Bacteria (/ b æ k ˈ t ɪər i ə / ⓘ; sg.: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell.They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms.Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its habitats.Bacteria inhabit the air, soil, water, acidic hot ...

When you are done using your microscope, clean the ocular and objective lenses with lens cleaner and lens paper only. A Kim wipe may be used to clean the stage. The stage should be placed in the lowest position and rotate the scanning objective into position.