CMCI Micrograph Competition Results

"Rooted" - Sabrina Brunetti, Gulick Lab

These tangled roots belong to an Arabidopsis Thaliana plant, stained with both Toludine Blue, and GUS reagents. 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl glucuronide treatment of plants expressing Beta-glucoronidase under the control of the RD20/CLO3 promoter results in the light blue staining. For more information on the research in the Gulick lab, follow this link. This image was captured using the Nikon DSRi2 colour camera on a Nikon Ti inverted microscope here at the CMCI. 

Hela Cells undergoing division - Danny Beaudet, Piekny Lab

This vividly coloured montage of depicts snapshots in time of HeLa cells undergoing the final stages of cell division; Anaphase and Telophase. Time-lapse images captured every two minutes, of cells expressing Anillin-GFP and H2B-mRuby reveals the relationship between this membrane-associated protein and the chromosomes through time. For more information about research happening in the Piekny lab, follow this link. These images were captured on the Nikon Sweptfield confocal, here at the CMCI. For more information on Henrietta Lacks, the woman whose cervical cancer cells were harvested without her knowledge to make the HeLa cell line, follow this link to the Lacks Family website. 

Fibroblast cells at rest - Miroslav Milev, Sacher Lab

These cells are derived from the skin of a human patient, and stained with Hoescht (blue; the nucleus of the cell) and antibodies directed against the microtubules (orange; the scaffolding of the cell), and centromeres (green; organising nodes for chromosomes). This image was captured using the Nikon C2 confocal, here in the CMCI. For more information on the reasearch in the Sacher lab, follow this link. 

"Freedom" - Sabrina Brunetti, Gulick Lab

This Arabidopsis Thaliana seedling, stained with and GUS reagents, described above, is just escaping its seed pod. For more information on the research in the Gulick lab, follow this link. This image was captured using the Nikon DSRi2 colour camera on a Nikon Ti inverted microscope here at the CMCI. 

Pavement Cells - Farzaneh Tamnanloo, Lee Lab

These pavement cells are the main component of the outermost surface of plant leaves; in this case, the cotyledon of a 5-day-old Arabidopsis Thaliana seedling. The walls of these cells have been stained with propidium iodide (red); the green staining is a result of the expression of GFP-labelled SCRM, a protein involved in the regulation of stomatal development. Each stomata in this image is associated with a pair of SCRM-expressing guard cells, that regulate the size of the stomata, controlling moisture loss. This image was captured on the Nikon C2 confocal at the CMCI. For more information on research in the Lee lab, follow this link. 

"The Harvester" - Mayukh Choudry, Chaudhri Lab

 This slightly-torn slice of rat brain has been stained with DAPI (blue; the nuclei of all cells), c-Fos (green; neurons that have been active recently) and NeuN (red; the nuclei of neurons). Other than the tear in the tissue, the main feature is the vertically-aligned ventricle; a series of chambers in the brain through which cerebrospinal fluid is circulated. This image was captured in the CMCI using a Leica DM6000 microscope. For more information about the research happening in the Chaudhri lab, follow this link.

Ventral Tegmentum - Milan Valyear, Chaudhri Lab

This slice of a the ventral tegmental area of a rat brain has been stained with DAPI (blue; all nuclei) and antibodies directed against tyrosine hydroxylase (green; a marker for dopaminergic neurons). The neurons in red are selectively expressing a receptor that responds only to a specifically designed drug; this technique allows researchers to control specific populations of neurons by administering drugs to silence or activiate these neurons, leading to behavioural changes which can then be assayed to understand the purpose of specific neural circuits in behaviours. This image was captured on the Olympus FV10i confocal at the CMCI. For more information on the research in the Chaudhri lab, follow this link. 

The Heart of Chlamydomonas - Melissa Valente Paterno, Zerges Lab

Chlamydomonas are a species of unicellular, photosensitive algae. The green stain (puromycin) labels the nucleus, while the red stain represents mRNA encoding psb. This data was captured on the Leica DMi6000 here at the CMCI. For more information on research in the Zerges lab, follow this link.