Colonies of the Bacteria Bacillus Globigii on a Petri Dish

Scientists optimized existing methods to collect and identify microorganisms including Bacillus anthracis, a pathogenic microorganism, in 4,800 soil samples across the United States, and developed a geographic information system (GIS)-based application to visualize microorganism occurrence throughout the United States. The photo shows Bacillus globigii colony forming units recovered from a seeded soil sample growing on a petri dish containing tryptic soy agar.