Artful Science
How fungi and bacteria can be seen as works of art
| Charlotte Fuchs
The beauty of nature can also be found in the smallest creatures. The award-winning photos of the “Microverse Photo Contest” prove this.
“Do you have captivating, high-resolution images of microorganisms under the microscope, especially fungi, microalgae or bacteria?”
With these words, the Cluster of Excellence Balance of the Microverse at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena invited its scientists to take part in a photo competition. The Cluster of Excellence, which is funded by the German Research Foundation, investigates the complex balance of microbial communities and their interactions with the environment. The research results not only provide the researchers with important approaches to solving urgent problems, such as antibiotic resistance, but are sometimes also real works of art. In recognition of this, the Cluster has launched a photo competition for the first time.
Third place, endowed with € 100, went to Harikumar Suma, a doctoral researcher in the department of Paleobiotechnology at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI). “The image impressed us with its exceptional technical execution and detailed composition. With the help of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), it highlights complicated bacterial structures,” is the Cluster’s verdict. The image shows a mixture of bacterial species (Bacillus sp., Streptomyces sp., a type of Actinobacteria and also γ-Proteobacteria) that have been fluorescently labeled using the so-called microbial FISH method. The image is representative of a polymicrobial community whose individual members can be distinguished thanks to FISH. “As there are different fluorescent signals, it looks as if the bacteria are taking part in a neon party,” says Suma, describing his photo.
The second prize was awarded to the image of a colon cross-section of a germ-free mouse that was colonized with Candida albicans to investigate how the pathogen spreads there. Winner Merle Hammer, a doctoral researcher in the research group Microbial Immunology at the Leibniz-HKI, shares the € 200 prize money with her colleague Sindy Oekler, who prepared the histological section for the staining. The Cluster describes the image as a “mixture of art and science!” “The yellow-colored filamentous Candida albicans fungi are found in the faeces inside the intestine. The nuclei of the epithelial cells of the colon are stained blue with DAPI, and mucus and other glycoconjugates are stained magenta,” explains Hammer.
The winner of the competition is Beatriz Cristovão, a doctoral researcher in the independent junior research group Adaptive Pathogenicity Strategies at the Leibniz-HKI. “The image of a Candida albicans infection in a gut-on-chip model impressed us with its bright colors, intricate details and scientific significance. Truly breathtaking,” writes the Cluster. The gut-on-a-chip model can be used to simulate infection processes and study the interactions between pathogens and intestinal cells. “The cell nuclei are colored blue, Candia albicans orange. The filamentous actin, a structural protein, can be seen in green and the zonula occludens-1 (cell contacts made of membrane proteins) in red,” says Cristovão, explaining the image that was awarded € 300.
Congratulations to all the winners!
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Third Prize: A mix of bacterial species that are fluorescently labelled using Microbial FISH. Source: Harikumar Suma / Leibniz-HKI -
Second Prize: Colon cross section of a germ-free mouse colonized with Candida albicans. Source: Merle Hammer, Sindy Oekler / Leibniz-HKI -
First Prize: Candida albicans infection in a gut-on-chip model, together with the intestinal cell layer. Source: Beatriz Cristovão / Leibniz-HKI
