Carmichael’s Concise Review
Coming Events 2017
Novel Techniques in Microscopy April 2–5, 2017 San Diego, CA
www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/global_calendar/events/ novel_techniques_in_microscopy_%281%29
253rd ACS National Meeting & Exposition April 2–6, 2017 San Francisco, CA
www.acs.org/content/acs/en/meetings/nationalmeetings/ meetings.html
Focus on Microscopy 2017 April 9–12, 2017
Bordeaux, France
www.focusonmicroscopy.org
2017 MRS Spring Meeting & Exhibit April 17–21, 2017 Phoenix, AZ
www.mrs.org/spring2017
Experimental Biology 2017 April 22–26, 2017 Chicago, IL
http://experimentalbiology.org/2017/Home.aspx
EMAS 2017 and IUMAS VII May 7–11, 2017 Konstanz, Germany
www.microbeamanalysis.eu/events
Microscopy & Microanalysis 2017 August 6–10, 2017
St. Louis, MO
www.microscopy.org 2018
Microscopy & Microanalysis 2018 August 5–9, 2018
Baltimore, MD
www.microscopy.org 2019
Microscopy & Microanalysis 2019 August 4–8, 2019
Portland, OR
www.microscopy.org 2020
Microscopy & Microanalysis 2020 August 2–6, 2020
Milwaukee, WI
www.microscopy.org 2021
Microscopy & Microanalysis 2021 August 1–5, 2021
Pittsburgh, PA
www.microscopy.org 2022
Microscopy & Microanalysis 2022 July 31–August 4, 2022
Portland, OR
www.microscopy.org
More Meetings and Courses Check the complete calendar near the back of this magazine.
8
A Microscopic Structure to Capture Dim Light
Stephen W. Carmichael Mayo Clinic , Rochester , MN 55905
carmichael.stephen@
mayo.edu
Most plants are green because chlorophyll, the pigment commonly utilized for photosynthesis, absorbs blue (and some red) light for energy to drive photosynthesis, therefore refl ecting green light. However, in extreme shade there is not enough energy available in the blue light so another mechanism is needed to provide energy for plants in this challenging environment. Recently Matthew Jacobs, Martin Lopez-Garcia, O.-Phart Phrathep, Tracy Lawson, Ruth Oulton, and Heather Whitney revealed microscopic organelles in leaves that may function as photonic crystals to enhance capturing energy from light [ 1 ]. Photonic crystals are periodic nanoscale structures that interact with light, resulting in a number of optical phenomena including light- harvesting. Photonic structures are widespread in nature where they are typically associated with structural color. A striking example of structural color is iridescent blue leaves as seen in a diverse range of tropical plants adapted to deep forest shade conditions. Jacobs et al. may be the fi rst to present direct evidence of a function for this structural color in photosynthesis.
Blue iridescent leaves have been described in some species of the genus Begonia
(see Figure 1 ). Unusual plastids containing highly ordered internal structures called iridoplasts have been observed in the surface tissue of leaves from these plants and could be the source of the blue coloration. However this has not been proven, and the biological signifi cance has not been determined. To explore this, Jacobs et al. examined the micro- and nano-scopic morphology of the iridoplast in quantitative detail to
Figure 1 : Blue leaf iridescence and iridoplasts in Begonia . (a) Photograph of a leaf of B. grandis × B. pavonina (G×P). (b) Microscopy image showing iridoplasts in an epidermal cell under brightfi eld epi-illumination. (c) Cryo-SEM image of a single iridoplast in Begoni G×P. Adapted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Nature Plants 2 (11) Article number 16162 (2016).
doi: 10.1017/S1551929517000165 2017 March
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