CIL:12644, Insect host: Dalbulus elimatus (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae), epithelial cell, bacteria. In Cell Image Library

Epithelial cells (ec) of the midgut. Spiroplasmas are bacteria in the Class Mollicutes that are frequently associated with insects and/or plants. These electron micrographs show symbiotic/ commensal spiroplasma-like organisms (SLOs) in the midgut/ filter chamber of a leafhopper, Dalbulus elimatus. SLOs found in this insect are long and tubular shaped with a tip structure (t). These SLOs (S) were found in great numbers in the gut lumen (lu) frequently associated with gut microvilli, but unlike the plant-pathogenic mollicutes, they did not seem to invade the gut epithelium (ec) or other tissues in their leafhopper hosts. This image is related to Fig. 1 in Arch. Microbiol (2011) 193:35-44.