The following images of invertebrates are used in In Microns.
Adult Caenorhabditis elegans roundworm head (top, anterior side to the left) and tail (bottom, posterior side to the left) labelled with a fluorescently-tagged extracellular matrix protein, revealing the lining of its internal organs. False-colour image acquired with a monochrome camera by confocal fluorescence microscopy at 400x magnification. Image provided by Alexandre Benedetto (Benedetto lab)
Adult Caenorhabditis elegans roundworm head (anterior side to the right) labelled with a green fluorescently-tagged extracellular matrix protein, revealing internal organ lining. Image acquired by confocal fluorescence microscopy with a monochrome camera at 400x magnification and recoloured in green. Image provided by Alexandre Benedetto (Benedetto lab)
Thirteen adult C. elegans roundworms labelled with a green-fluorescent intracellular marker and imaged at 200x magnification for blue and green fluorescence by epifluorescence microscopy, revealing endogenous blue fluorescence in the intestine and strong expression of green fluorescence in the head, mid-body and tail. Despite its small size (1 millimetre) and different anatomy, C. elegans has enabled three Nobel Prizes in Physiology and Medicine (2002, 2006, 2024) and one Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2008). Image provided by Alexandre Benedetto (Benedetto lab)
Extended depth of focus image of an old fly wing acquired under a stereozoom microscope. The large veins are filled fluid that give support and shape to the wing. The cells, hairs and vein patterns that form the structural components of the wings of the fruit fly are not as regular and prominent as in a young fly wing. Image provided by David Clancy (Clancy lab)
Although different in structure to human brains, research on the Drosophila melanogaster, or fruit fly, brain and nervous system has furthered our understanding of fundamental questions in neuroscience such as how do brains control behaviour and how do we learn and remember. In this image, you can see a fruit fly brain with its serotonergic neurons labelled with green fluorescent protein and visualised by confocal microscopy. Image provided by Sue Broughton (Broughton lab)
Extended depth of focus image of a Drosophila melanogaster fly eye acquired under a stereozoom microscope. Like many insects, fruit flies have compound eyes shaped like a cup to provide broad vision in 3D, which is particularly important for flight. The eye fluoresces in green when exposed to blue light. Image provided by David Clancy (Clancy lab)
Scanning electron microscopy is a method that allows us to visualise surface structures of objects at very high resolution. In this image you can see a high resolution image of Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, a model organism that has been used in biological research for over 100 years. Fruit flies are invertebrates with a segmented body plan and an external skeleton or cuticle. Here you can see the head, thorax and abdomen, of the fly and bristles covering the surface of the cuticle. Image credit: Nigel Fullwood (Broughton lab)
