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Amoeba fruiting body, light micrograph
Light micrograph of a forming fruiting body of a Dictyostelium discoideum social amoeba, or slime mould. Under favourable conditions, D. discoideum lives as a unicellular organism in the soil. When there is a lack of nutrients, the unicellular amoeba form a multicellular aggregation known as a slug. The cells within the slug differentiate, with some forming a fruiting body, or sorocarp, on a long stalk, which releases spores when mature. Research is ongoing to use D. discoideum as unicellular 'factories' to produce a number of molecules including antibiotics and olivetolic acid, a precursor of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive substance in cannabis. Magnification: x100 when printed at 15 centimetres wide., by EYE OF SCIENCE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
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