Cytoplasmic Streaming in Water Lily Petal

At 100X magnification of a water lily petal, we can see the rapid and directed movement of vesicles being transported by the motor proteins Kinesin and Dynein, up and down microtubule highways, with the nucleus in the center. The interconnections between cells are clearly visible as vesicles exit the central cell (the conduit is called the plasmodesmata). (scale bar 10um)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• cytoplasmic
• cytoplasm
• streaming
• kinesin
• vesicle
• lily
• plasmodesmata

[nagualdesign]

Nice vid ;-J

I'm sure I once saw a microscope video showing real-time microtubule polymerization. I don't suppose you could film that for YouTube?

[thesoundofscience]

There definitely are such videos ... I'll see what I can do in the next few months :)

[AshMashMash]

Very nice. So, did you make all your vids yourself? If so, how?

[thesoundofscience]

Yes, all the videos are made by me. How? That can get complicated - is video microscopy a good answer? In this case, I literally just took a Water Lily petal, squished it between two cover-slips and looked at it at 100X on a good microscope.

[AshMashMash]

Cool. Have you got one of those electronic microscopes that attach to computers then?

[thesoundofscience]

Yes, it's a research grade scope, I get paid to run other kinds of experiments with it, but this kind of stuff is fun during the down time. You can see very cool stuff with a fairly simple scope too, just get some mirky pond water, and look at 10 or 20X.

[AshMashMash]

Yeh. I think I might buy one of those USB microscopes, if I can find one at the right price. My laptops being mended at the mo though, so I'll have to wait...