Fig. 6: Epifluorescence microscopy of Bb bacteria (40x magnification).

Images were acquired without aptamers (control) and using AptaCtrl, Apta7, Apta9, and Apta10, all conjugated with FAM. The red circle highlights the merged image (phase contrast and fluorescence) in the center. Red arrows point to some Borrelia bacteria exhibiting a fluorescence signal.