Cover photograph (Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.): Wild-type and hypercyst mutants of Rhodospirillum centenum show distinctly different colony morphologies. Wild-type vegetative cells form red convex colonies, whereas hypercyst mutants form flat-ridged colonies. Hypercyst mutants also express high levels of a developmental reporter gene fused to β-galactosidase, giving rise to a blue-green coloration as a result of hydrolysis of the indicator dye 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactopyranoside. (See related article on page 5834.)