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Developing Zebrafish Embryo Wins The 12th Annual Nikon Small World in Motion Competition

Posted on September 13, 2022

Nikon Instruments Inc. today unveiled the winners of the 12th annual Nikon Small World in Motion Video Competition. This year’s first place prize was awarded to Dr. Eduardo E. Zattara for his visually striking video of lateral line cells and melanocytes migrating in a zebrafish embryo. Utilizing time-lapse imaging in an eight-hour window, Zattara’s video highlights the beautiful and dynamic study of evolutionary developmental biology.

Melanin-forming cells known as melanocytes (colored in orange) move below the zebrafish’s skin to reach their final positions. While in green, sensory organ progenitors migrate along the lateral line of the zebrafish embryo. Zattara used fluorescence to contrast the various cell types during this developmental period in the embryo.

“This recording came out very clean and required almost no post-processing. It is an astonishing display of the dynamics of cell migration during development,” said Zattara. “The result was a video that was both biologically informative and visually striking. It was by far my favorite microscopy video to render.”

Zattara went on to say, “While I maintain several lines of work ranging from genomics to community ecology, my main interest lies in the interaction between ecology, evolution and development. I am particularly interested in how developmental capabilities can affect evolutionary routes and ecological outcomes. While I like to consider all scales of life, I always focus on the organism to understand biological systems.”

Eric Flem, Communications and CRM Manager, Nikon Instruments said, “This year’s winning entry not only reflects the remarkable research and trends in science, but also gives the public a glimpse into a hidden world that can only be seen through a microscope. As imagining technologies continue to advance, we are seeing more scientifically relevant events in higher and more visually detailed quality.”

Second place was awarded to Dr. Christophe Leterrier for his 12-hour time-lapse of cultured monkey cells labeled for plasma membrane (orange) and DNA (blue). In order to capture this video, Leterrier had to keep the cells alive throughout the entire acquisition time, with proper temperature and humidity control, as well as minimal phototoxicity from laser illumination.

Third place was awarded to Dr. Ahmet Karabulut for his video of sea anemone neurons and stinging cells showing their dynamic processes.

The 2022 judging panel included:

• Dr. Gustavo Menezes, Associate Professor and Head of the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais
• Dr. Nikolay Nikolov, Senior Video Journalist at The New York Times
• Annaliese Nurnberg, Photo Editor at The Washington Post
• Dr. Clare Waterman, Cell Biologist and Member of the National Academy of Sciences

NIKON SMALL WORLD IN MOTION WINNERS

1st Place
Dr. Eduardo E. Zattara
CONICET
National Scientific and Technical Research Council
Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina
Lateral line cells and melanocytes migrating in a zebrafish embryo
Brightfield, Confocal, Fluorescence
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

2nd Place
Dr. Christophe Leterrier
INP CNRS-AMU UMR7051
NeuroCyto Lab
Marseille, France
12-hour time-lapse of cultured monkey cells labeled for plasma membrane (orange) and DNA (blue)
Confocal
60X (Objective Lens Magnification)

3rd Place
Dr. Ahmet Karabulut
Stowers Institute for Medical Reseach
Gibson Lab
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Sea anemone neurons and stinging cells showing their dynamic processes
Confocal, Fluorescence, Image Stacking
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

4th Place
Dr. Dylan T. Burnette
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Dying melanoma cells
Differential Interference Contrast (DIC)
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

5th Place
Ignasi Vélez-Ceron, Dr. Jordi Ignés & Dr. Francesc Sagués
University of Barcelona
Department of Materials Science and Physical Chemistry
Barcelona, Spain
Photosensitive active nematic layer confined in an annular channel
Fluorescence
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Álmos Becz
Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem
Szigetszentmiklós, Hungary
Conjugation of stentors
Darkfield
4X-10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Dylan T. Burnette
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
A cell going through cell division
Confocal, Differential Interference Contrast (DIC)
60X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Dylan T. Burnette
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
A cancer cell with three nuclei
Confocal
60X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Yen Fook Chew
Woodend, Waimakiriri, New Zealand
8-hour time-lapse of a Hydra devouring Daphnia pulex
Darkfield
4X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Simon Cleary & Mark Looney
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Department of Medicine
San Francisco, California, USA
Neutrophils (green) swarming into a mouse lung. The neutrophils block blood flow (plasma: blue, platelets: red) and migrate into airspaces.
Multiphoton
25X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Nicholas Desnoyer
University of Zurich
Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
Zurich, Switzerland
Thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) pollen tubes guided to ovules by cues secreted from the synergid cells (pink) where they burst and release sperm
Fluorescence
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Kristen Engevik
Baylor College of Medicine
Department of Molecular Virology & Microbiology
Houston, Texas, USA
Live imaging of the effects of rotavirus infection (magenta) on calcium signaling (green) in infected and uninfected cells
Fluorescence
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Olivia Feehan-Nelson & Dr. Matthew Tyska
Vanderbilt University
Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
30-minute time-lapse of microvilli accumulating on the surface on an epithelial cell
Confocal, Fluorescence
100X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Karl Gaff
Dublin, Ireland
Crystallizing Epsom salts
Polarized Light
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Gerd Günther
Düsseldorf, Germany
Virginia spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana) stamen hair cell division
Differential Interference Contrast (DIC)
63X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Mas Erasmus Lux Jansma
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Ciliates of the genus Euplotes
Darkfield
100X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Andrew Moore
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Janelia Research Campus
Ashburn, Virginia, USA
The cytoskeleton at the edge of a tissue culture cell. Actin (white) and microtubules (blue)
Confocal
63X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Sarang Naik
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
A freshwater tube dwelling Annelid worm feeding on Spirogyra algae and then excreting it
Brightfield
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Ewelina Oszust
London, United Kingdom
Aquatic larva (possibly of a caddisfly) balancing an air bubble next to a volvox algae
Brightfield
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Pablo Piedra
La Fortuna de San Carlos, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Booklice (Psocoptera) feeding on a decaying orchid bee (Euglossa hansoni)
Reflected Light
4X-20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Benedikt Pleyer
Kirchberg, Bavaria, Germany
Culex mosquito larvae hatching from an egg raft seen from under water
Darkfield/Oblique
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Julien Resseguier
University of Oslo
Department of Biosciences / Immunology
Oslo, Viken, Norway
Circulating red blood cells in zebrafish
Confocal, Fluorescence
60X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Dr. Julien Resseguier
University of Oslo
Department of Biosciences / Immunology
Oslo, Viken, Norway
Neutrophils (blue) and Macrophages (orange) within the granuloma of a zebrafish model of tuberculosis
Confocal, Deconvolution, Fluorescence
20X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Chloé Savard
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Spirostomum sp. ciliates swimming in a single drop of water and showing contraction movements
Kristiansen Illumination (pseudo DIC), Brightfield, Reflected Light
10X, 20X and 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Chloé Savard
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Holographic Milnesium tardigrade with Euglena viridis
Polarized Light
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Varun Sheel & Dr. Walter Huynh
Faze Medicines, Inc.
Department of Neuroscience
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Biomolecular condensates forming in cancer cells
Confocal
100X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Felix Thoma & Dr. Christof Osman
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Biocenter
Planegg-Martinsried, Bavaria, Germany
5-hour time-lapse of mitochondrial dynamics in budding yeast (S. cerevisiae)
Brightfield, Deconvolution, Fluorescence, Image Stacking
100X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Mikiko Tsudome & Dr. Shigeru Deguchi
The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
Research Center for Bioscience and Nanoscience
Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan
Emergence and development of structural color during the growth of a marine bacterium (Cellulophaga lytica) on agar
Stereomicroscopy
12.5X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Wim van Egmond
Micropolitan Museum
Berkel en Rodenrijs, Zuid Holland, Netherlands
Marine plankton (Phyllodoce maculata) larva
Differential Interference Contrast (DIC)
25X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Jan van IJken
Jan van IJken Photography and Film
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
Water flea (Polyphemus pediculus) giving birth
Darkfield
5X (Objective Lens Magnification)

To view all the winners, click here.