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*CIL – Cell Image Library accession number. Please use this to reference an image.

CIL:19325*  Cite 
Description

Balamuthia mandrillaris was isolated from a sample of soil from a plant in the home of a child who died of amebic encephalitis. These free living amoebae can be opportunistic pathogens, and in some cases have been diagnosed as the causative agent of the usually fatal amebic encephalitis. Balamuthia feed by inserting the tips of their pseudopodia into cells. Naegleria and Acanthamoeba, other opportunistic amoeboid pathogens, feed by phagocytosis. The cells were grown in axenic media. Then they were photographed with a Canon Power Shot G3 with a setting at ISO 50 with an optical microlens at 4X and the quality set at RAW. The camera was attached to the phototube of the microscope with a 3X lens and photographed in phase contrast with a 100X oil immersion objective. Live amoebae were placed in a chamber prepared by inverting a coverslip with/or without cultured mammalian cells onto a 3X1 inch microscope slide with a thin rim of Vaseline; melted paraffin was brushed around the edge of the coverslip to seal it to the slide. Such cultures could be maintained for several days at room temperature. Further details are available in the attached publication. Other members of the linked video group are Naegleria and Acanthamoeba.

Biological Sources
NCBI Organism Classification
Balamuthia mandrillaris
Cell Type
cell by organism
eukaryotic cell
Eukaryotic Protist
Amoeboid Protist
Cell Line
OK1
Cellular Component
cell
pseudopodium
Attribution
Names
Thelma Dunnebacke
Published
Microbiology 150:2837-2842
Pubmed
15347743
Citation
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
doi:10.7295/W9CIL19325
Archival Resource Key (ARK)
ark:/b7295/w9cil19325
Grouping This image is part of a group.
Imaging
Image Type
microscopy
in-focus phase contrast
Image Mode
retardance
phase contrast microscopy
Parameters Imaged
boundaries between regions with different refractive index
Source of Contrast
boundaries between regions with different refractive index
Visualization Methods
natural boundaries
Processing History
living tissue
recorded image
charge coupled device (CCD)
Data Qualifiers
raw, unprocessed data
Sample Preparation
Methods
living tissue
Methods
living tissue
whole mounted tissue
Dimensions
Spatial Axis Image Size Pixel Size
X 320px ——
Y 240px ——