Second harmonic imaging of chloroplasts using the two-photon laser scanning microscope

Insight into plant cell wall chemistry and structure by combination of multiphoton microscopy with Raman imaging

Spontaneous Raman scattering microspectroscopy, second harmonic generation (SHG) and 2-photon excited fluorescence (2PF) were used in combination to characterize the morphology together with the chemical composition of the cell wall in native plant tissues. As the data obtained with unstained sections of Sorghum bicolor root and leaf tissues illustrate, nonresonant as well as pre-resonant Raman microscopy in combination with hyperspectral analysis reveals details about the distribution and composition of the major cell wall constituents. Multivariate analysis of the Raman data allows separation of different tissue regions, specifically the endodermis, xylem and lumen. The orientation of cellulose microfibrils is obtained from polarization-resolved SHG signals. Furthermore, 2-photon autofluorescence images can be used to image lignification. The combined compositional, morphological and orientational information in the proposed coupling of SHG, Raman imaging and 2PF presents an extension of existing vibrational microspectroscopic imaging and multiphoton microscopic approaches not only for plant tissues.

Making a big thing of a small cell--recent advances in single cell analysis

Single cell analysis is an emerging field requiring a high level interdisciplinary collaboration to provide detailed insights into the complex organisation, function and heterogeneity of life. This review is addressed to life science researchers as well as researchers developing novel technologies. It covers all aspects of the characterisation of single cells (with a special focus on mammalian cells) from morphology to genetics and different omics-techniques to physiological, mechanical and electrical methods. In recent years, tremendous advances have been achieved in all fields of single cell analysis: (1) improved spatial and temporal resolution of imaging techniques to enable the tracking of single molecule dynamics within single cells; (2) increased throughput to reveal unexpected heterogeneity between different individual cells raising the question what characterizes a cell type and what is just natural biological variation; and (3) emerging multimodal approaches trying to bring together information from complementary techniques paving the way for a deeper understanding of the complexity of biological processes. This review also covers the first successful translations of single cell analysis methods to diagnostic applications in the field of tumour research (especially circulating tumour cells), regenerative medicine, drug discovery and immunology.

Elastic theory for the deformation of a spherical dielectric biological object under electro-optical trapping

The shear modulus of a dielectric spherical particle is investigated using a combination of triangular (or square) electrodes and a single-beam optical tweezer.

Multiphoton imaging to identify grana, stroma thylakoid, and starch inside an intact leaf

BACKGROUND

Grana and starch are major functional structures for photosynthesis and energy storage of plant, respectively. Both exhibit highly ordered molecular structures and appear as micrometer-sized granules inside chloroplasts. In order to distinguish grana and starch, we used multiphoton microscopy, with simultaneous acquisition of two-photon fluorescence (2PF) and second harmonic generation (SHG) signals. SHG is sensitive to crystallized structures while 2PF selectively reveals the distribution of chlorophyll.

RESULT

Three distinct microstructures with different contrasts were observed, i.e. "SHG dominates", "2PF dominates", and "SHG collocated with 2PF". It is known that starch and grana both emit SHG due to their highly crystallized structures, and no autofluorescence is emitted from starch, so the "SHG dominates" contrast should correspond to starch. The contrast of "SHG collocated with 2PF" is assigned to be grana, which exhibit crystallized structure with autofluorescent chlorophyll. The "2PF dominates" contrast should correspond to stroma thylakoid, which is a non-packed membrane structure with chrolophyll. The contrast assignment is further supported by fluorescence lifetime measurement.

CONCLUSION

We have demonstrated a straightforward and noninvasive method to identify the distribution of grana and starch within an intact leaf. By merging the 2PF and SHG images, grana, starch and stroma thylakoid can be visually distinguished. This approach can be extended to the observation of 3D grana distribution and their dynamics in living plants.

Mining the polarization-dependence of nonlinear optical measurements

The electromagnetic field strength present within the focal volume of a pulsed laser is routinely high enough to produce reasonably efficient nonlinear summing and mixing of optical frequencies. The polarization-dependence of the outgoing beam is a sensitive function of the polarization state(s) of the incident beam(s) and the structure, orientation, and symmetry of the sample. Mining this information hinges on two elements: (1) accurate and precise polarization-dependent measurements, and (2) reliable modeling to relate the measured responses back to local structure and orientation. The central focus of this review is on the first step. Experimental strategies for precise and accurate nonlinear optical ellipsometry (NOE) polarization measurements are summarized for the most common and simplest case of second harmonic generation (SHG), or the frequency doubling of light, although extension to higher-order nonlinear optical interactions is straightforward in most cases.

Optical microscopy in photosynthesis

Emerging as well as the most frequently used optical microscopy techniques are reviewed and image contrast generation methods in a microscope are presented, focusing on the nonlinear contrasts such as harmonic generation and multiphoton excitation fluorescence. Nonlinear microscopy presents numerous advantages over linear microscopy techniques including improved deep tissue imaging, optical sectioning, and imaging of live unstained samples. Nonetheless, with the exception of multiphoton excitation fluorescence, nonlinear microscopy is in its infancy, lacking protocols, users and applications; hence, this review focuses on the potential of nonlinear microscopy for studying photosynthetic organisms. Examples of nonlinear microscopic imaging are presented including isolated light-harvesting antenna complexes from higher plants, starch granules, chloroplasts, unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and cyanobacteria Leptolyngbya sp. and Anabaena sp. While focusing on nonlinear microscopy techniques, second and third harmonic generation and multiphoton excitation fluorescence microscopy, other emerging nonlinear imaging modalities are described and several linear optical microscopy techniques are reviewed in order to clearly describe their capabilities and to highlight the advantages of nonlinear microscopy.