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Click on the links below to see the larger images.

Cells! is produced by R. Howard Berg as an educational public service of the Danforth Center.  This tool makes available images of cellular structures for use in teaching.  Use the left-hand menu or browse through the larger images below.

The images shown were produced using instrumentation in the 
Integrated Microscopy Facility  at the Danforth Center 
and illustrate a variety of cellular characteristics and structures.  
You may copy and use the images for educational purposes only, free of charge.


Abbreviations:
G=Golgi stack; M=mitochondrion;
 Mt=microtubule;
 N=nucleus;
 Nu=nucleolus; P=plastid;
Pl=plasma membrane; T=tonoplast;
 V=vacuole;
W=plant cell wall

 

cytoplasm 2

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You can use the thumbnails on the left 
or click on the word(s) above to navigate to images.


These images are copyrighted to the Danforth Center and are not to be sold 
or published without the written permission of the Danforth Center.

We would like to acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation as the 
source of funds to purchase the instruments used in making these images.

Light micrographs were made using a Zeiss LSM 5210 Meta NLO confocal/multiphoton 
system and are of living cells.

Electron micrographs were made using a Leo 912 AB transmission electron microscope.  
These thin section images are of samples that were physically fixed by ultra-rapid freezing 
(about 15 milliseconds) in a high pressure freezer, which prevents ice crystal formation 
which otherwise would destroy cell structure.  Compared to chemical fixation, ultra-rapid 
fixation produces the most life-like images currently possible in electron microscopy.



 

 

A transmission electron micrograph of the cytoplasm of a plant cell.  The mitochondrial cristae are indicated by a white arrow.  The line of black arrows shows a polysome, a group of ribosomes co-translating a single mRNA (not visible) into proteins. M=mitochondrion; V=vacuole; G=Golgi; W=cell wall; P=plastid; ER=endoplasmic reticulum. 

Click the links below to view a Quicktime movie that shows the mobility and size of mitochondria (labeled with GFP) in living, cultured tobacco BY2 cells, framed at one frame per second.
low res (3.3 MB)
high res (8.6 MB)