Microbacterium kitamiense, aerobic bacterium, SEM

Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Microbacterium kitamiense is a Gram-positive, irregular rod-shaped (pleomorphic) bacterium that was recently discovered in 1999. It is a novel microbe that utilizes sucrose as its sole carbon source. It is strictly aerobic, catalase-positive and oxidase-negative and this genus produces both insoluble and soluble exopolysaccharides (EPSs). M. kitamiense was named after Kitami, a city in Hokkaido, Japan, where it was originally isolated. Microbacterium kitamiense was also found on a fresco in Herculaneum (in Italy) in 2009. This ancient Roman town was destroyed by an earthquake in 79 A.D. and was subsequently buried by a mud avalanche following the eruption of Vesuvius. The genus Microbacterium are common soil bacteria. Magnification: x6.665 when shortest axis printed at 25 millimetres.