> "The images revealed dividing cells, indicating the bacteria were healthy and not starved to an abnormally small size." but the write up says they appear to need other bacteria to function properly - and suggests the pili are involved in that. If they can stay healthy and divide in an environment without other bacteria then what do they need the other bacteria for, entertainment??
I require food and water to function properly, but I'm not currently eating or drinking. These microbes were isolated using filteration, so presumably they were surrounded by other bacteria to leech from, right up to the point they were isolated.
"the images revealed dividing cells" - with the present participle "dividing" - to me suggested isolation prior to division; hence the question.
The solution you proffer is the expected situation but then the images would be prior to isolation or they'd show _divided_ cells (which is entirely uninteresting and tautological I think).
I require food and water to function properly, but I'm not currently eating or drinking. These microbes were isolated using filteration, so presumably they were surrounded by other bacteria to leech from, right up to the point they were isolated.