2019 Photomicrography Competition

Artboard 1

11th Place

2019 Photomicrography Competition

A pair of ovaries from an adult Drosophila female stained for F-actin (yellow) and nuclei (green); follicle cells are marked by GFP (magenta)

Dr. Yujun Chen Dr. Jocelyn McDonald

Affiliation
Kansas State University
Department of Biology
Manhattan, Kansas, USA
Technique
Confocal
Magnification
10x (Objective Lens Magnification)

Drosophila melanogaster is the scientific name of the fruit fly, which has been used as a model organism in biomedical research, especially genetics and neuroscience, for more than a century. Thomas Hunt Morgan used the fly to prove the chromosomal theory of inheritance, a finding for which he received the Nobel Prize.

Drosophila shares 60 percent of human DNA. Some genes have been conserved over millions of years of evolution and can be studied easily and rapidly in flies because insects are easy to handle, inexpensive to culture and have a short life cycle, making the fly a powerful tool for research that has led to important discoveries in cancer, autism, diabetes, and many other human conditions.

The Drosophila female reproductive system, pictured in this photo, is anatomically similar to the human counterpart and some of the genes involved in ovulation in the fly are the same required for ovulation in mammals, therefore Drosophila is also a valuable model for understanding the biology of some ovarian cell types and their contribution to cancer formation.

In Their Own Words

A Q&A with Nikon Small World winner Dr. Yujun Chen.

What is the subject matter of your winning image and why did you choose this image?

Packaging of egg chambers. This image shows the complexity and beauty of how different stages of egg chambers are packed and developed. I chose this particular image because the ovaries are well preserved.

What are the special techniques and/or challenges faced in creating this photomicrograph?

The challenge was to get a well-dissected sample and nice immunostaining.

What is your primary line of work?

I work as a postdoc to discover new details about collective cell migration.

How long have you been taking photographs through a microscope? What first sparked your interest in photomicrography?

For the past three years. I was stricken by the unexpected beauty of small things.

Why did you enter the Nikon Small World Photomicrography competition? What do you think of the competition?

Because it is the place where the most stunning images are being displayed. I think the competition is pushing people to capture the best pictures of our planet.

10th Place

2019 Photomicrography Competition

BPAE cells in telophase stage of mitosis

Jason Kirk

Affiliation
Baylor College of Medicine
Optical Imaging & Vital Microscopy Core
Houston, Texas, USA
Technique
Confocal with Enhanced Resolution
Magnification
63x (Objective Lens Magnification)

In Their Own Words

A Q&A with Nikon Small World winner Jason Kirk.

What is the subject matter of your winning image and why did you choose this image?

Bovine Pulmonary Artery Endothelial cells with mitochondria labeled with Mitotracker (glow scale), F-Actin (grey) and DAPI (magenta) for DNA. It is one of the strongest compositions I have made with this cell line, which is a wonderful benchmark tool for microscopists. These cells are fascinating to image due to the endless variations in morphology and number of markers that can be used. I wanted to illustrate the idea that mitochondria are the power plants of the cell. Fire is synonymous with energy and the contrast of the monochrome ‘ashes’ of the cytoskeleton against the fiery mitochondria illustrates this nicely, I believe.

What are the special techniques and/or challenges faced in creating this photomicrograph?

This was a time-consuming image to get balanced correctly. Each of the three channels had to be imaged separately as well as processed independently to produce the final composition. To get everything in focus, a maximum intensity projection was done on each Z stack and the image was pseudo-colored in postproduction.

What is your primary line of work?

I direct a core facility for the Baylor College of Medicine that focuses on fluorescence imaging of large intact tissue models using 3-D optical sectioning tools.

How long have you been taking photographs through a microscope? What first sparked your interest in photomicrography?

More than 20 years. I had an undergraduate advisor who was passionate about imaging flatworms. He introduced me to electron and fluorescence microscopy. This was in the late 90s when digital imaging was just starting to be used but was very expensive. The first time I took a picture from a computer I was hooked.

Do you tend to focus your microscopy toward a specific subject matter or theme? If so, why?

I am a bit of a generalist. Our researchers are interested in a vast array of model systems and so, as a core facility director, I have broad access to many different subjects. Fluorescence has always interested me because, while it is a tool targeted at the molecular level, we can observe the labeling over large areas of intact tissue, which makes the imaging exciting and challenging.

Why did you enter the Nikon Small World Photomicrography competition? What do you think of the competition?

NSW is a fantastic showcase for a diverse community of photographers made up of scientists, hobbyists and artists, which blends traditional photography and science in a way that is not often seen in mainstream media. I think this competition reminds people that the world is so much bigger than what they can see with their eyes and I wanted to be a part of that.

12th Place

2019 Photomicrography Competition

Mosquito larva

Anne Patricia Algar

Location
Hounslow, Middlesex, United Kingdom
Technique
Darkfield, Polarizing Light, Image Stacking
Magnification
4x (Objective Lens Magnification)

In Their Own Words

A Q&A with Nikon Small World winner Anne Algar.

What is the subject matter of your winning image and why did you choose this image?

My image is a mosquito larva showing its syphon tube for breathing, mouth brushes for feeding, and anal gills. Also shown is the internal structure of the mosquito and the number of large hairs covering the body. I find it interesting that a hated insect can produce such an intriguing picture when photographed through a microscope. Having been bitten on numerous occasions by mosquitos, I can appreciate both sides of the issue.

What are the special techniques and/or challenges faced in creating this photomicrograph?

To emphasize the details in the subject, I used polarizing and wave plate retarder filters. As brightfield illumination would not have made the subject stand out from the background, I used darkfield to produce the black background. A single image would have given insufficient depth of field so I took a series of shots at different focusing distances and combined them with Zerene Stacker.

What is your primary line of work?

I am a retired local government officer.

How long have you been taking photographs through a microscope? What first sparked your interest in photomicrography?

I began taking photographs through a microscope two years and five months ago. Having seen various pictures of crystal structures taken through a microscope on the internet, I decided to try taking some for myself. I soon moved on to biological specimens because I have had a long-term interest in photographing wildlife.

Do you tend to focus your microscopy toward a specific subject matter or theme? If so, why?

Although I am still interested in crystal photography, I now specialize in aquatic invertebrates, mainly collected from a garden pond. I enjoy revealing the detailed structure of these invertebrates that is invisible to the naked eye.