Scanning electron micrograph showing Serratia liquefaciens bacteria, found to be attached to a piece of plastic by "filaments". Such filaments may be artefacts produced by dehydration and drying of polysaccharide capsules surrounding some bacteria. The polysaccharides cannot be fixed with aldehyde fixatives such as formaldehyde or glutaraldehyde and the fine capsules may have aggregated into filaments during sample preparation for SEM. Image width: 12.8 micrometers. Magnification: 7,810x if the image is printed 10 cm wide.