Outreach activities
We are committed to communicating our work to both the scientific community and the lay audience. For a Plain English description of our activities, please read more About Us.
BSCB Competition Winner 2012
Congratulations to Sheng-Wen Chui from the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford. Sheng-Wen used Micron's Delta-Vision microscope to take this superb image of filamentous cells of the bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides.
The Tubulin homolog FtsZ (tagged with CFP) forms dot-like and spiral structures in two distinct populations. The FtsZ cytoskeleton affects the localization of the membrane chemosensory protein clusters (YFP). Cell bodies are shown in magenta.
Wytham Woods Exhibition
Out of the Woods is an exhibition on Wytham Woods north of Oxford, the best studied piece of wood land in the world. The exhibition features prints and wood sculpture as well as photographs about life in the woods. We have contributed three large digital images that use fluorescence and DIC to capture the beauty of cells and organelles in bluebell leaves from Wytham Woods. The exhibition runs until 30 September 2012.
Epidermis (outer layer) of a bluebell leaf showing the guard cells of two stomata and red chlorophyll autofluorescence in the chloroplasts contained within the guard cells.
Stomata are closable pores through which gas is exchanged between the leaf and the environment. During the day they allow oxygen and water vapour to leave the leaf and air to enter while during the night carbon dioxide is expelled. The guard cells are the only cells in the epidermis that contain chloroplasts where photosynthesis takes place. The tissue shown in this image is in reality 100μm x 100μm (=0.1 mm x 0.1 mm) in size.
Parenchyma (inner layer) cell of a bluebell leaf.
Most of the inner cells of leaves contain chloroplasts (chl) in the thin rim of cytoplasm around the edge of the cell. This rim also contains a nucleus (n, with chloroplasts in front and behind) and many other much smaller organelles (specialised compartments). The vast majority of the plant cell is made up of a vacuole (v) filled with water and soluble substances. The cell section in this image is in reality 75μm (=0.075 mm) wide.
Chlorophyll autofluorescence in chloroplasts of a parenchyma cell in a bluebell leaf.
Chloroplasts are the compartments in a plant cell in which photosynthesis takes place. Photosynthesis is a process that uses light, water and carbon dioxide to produce sugars and oxygen. Without photosynthesis the earth would only be populated by bacteria. The network of membranes inside chloroplasts contains chlorophyll, which absorbs mostly blue and red light, and emits light in the far red part of the spectrum. The absorbed light is used for photosynthesis. The emitted fluorescent light from several chloroplasts is shown in this image. The biggest of these chloroplasts is 14μm (=0.014 mm) in length.
Research Image Gallery
External news & events
- the Wellcome Trust blog
- Oxford Sparks - Website and blog describing cutting edge science going on around the University.