Penetrating view of nano-structures in Aleochara verna spermatheca and flagellum by hard X-ray microscopy

A penetrating view of the three-dimensional nanostructure of female spermatheca and male flagellum in the species Aleochara verna is obtained with 100-nm resolution using a hard X-ray microscope, which provides a fast noninvasive imaging technology for insect morphology. Through introducing Zernike...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inChinese physics B Vol. 22; no. 7; pp. 410 - 414
Main Author 张凯 李德娥 洪友丽 朱佩平 袁清习 黄万霞 高昆 周红章 吴自玉
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.07.2013
Subjects
Ducts
Fine structure
Imaging
Insects
Morphology
Nanostructure
Staining
Three dimensional
X-ray microscopy
X射线显微镜
成像技术
昆虫形态学
昆虫进化
空间分辨率
纳米结构
转移过程
鞭毛
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN1674-1056
2058-3834
1741-4199
DOI10.1088/1674-1056/22/7/076801

Cover

More Information
Summary:A penetrating view of the three-dimensional nanostructure of female spermatheca and male flagellum in the species Aleochara verna is obtained with 100-nm resolution using a hard X-ray microscope, which provides a fast noninvasive imaging technology for insect morphology. Through introducing Zernike phase contrast and heavy metal staining, images taken at 8 keV displayed sufficient contrast for observing nanoscale fine structures, such as the spermatheca cochleate duct and the subapex of the flagellum, which have some implications for the study of the sperm transfer process and genital evolution in insects. This work shows that both the spatial resolution and the contrast characteristic of hard X-ray microscopy are quite promising for insect morphology studies and, particularly, provide an attractive alternative to the destructive techniques used for investigating internal soft tissues.
Bibliography:X-ray microscopy;computed tomography;synchrotron radiation source;morphology
Zhang Kai, Li De-E, Hong You-Li, Zhu Pei-Ping, Yuan Qing-Xi, Huang Wan-Xia, Gao Kun, Zhou Hong-Zhang,Wu Zi-Yu a） Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China b） Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China c） National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
A penetrating view of the three-dimensional nanostructure of female spermatheca and male flagellum in the species Aleochara verna is obtained with 100-nm resolution using a hard X-ray microscope, which provides a fast noninvasive imaging technology for insect morphology. Through introducing Zernike phase contrast and heavy metal staining, images taken at 8 keV displayed sufficient contrast for observing nanoscale fine structures, such as the spermatheca cochleate duct and the subapex of the flagellum, which have some implications for the study of the sperm transfer process and genital evolution in insects. This work shows that both the spatial resolution and the contrast characteristic of hard X-ray microscopy are quite promising for insect morphology studies and, particularly, provide an attractive alternative to the destructive techniques used for investigating internal soft tissues.
11-5639/O4
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1674-1056
2058-3834
1741-4199
DOI:10.1088/1674-1056/22/7/076801