Polytene Chromosomes Imaged with the Combination of Inverted Optical and Near-Field Optical Microscopy

[Near-Field Polytene Chromosomes] Click image for the full view (90k)

Optical Phase Contrast Microscopy of Polytene Chromosomes (figure 1)

Unlike conventional optical microscopy, in which the resolution is limited by the wavelength of light used, the resolution of a Near-field Scanning Optical Microscope (NSOM) is primarily dependent upon the size of a sub-wavelength aperture that is brought within a few nanometers of the surface.

[NSOM Image of Tissue] Click image for a full view of the AFM data (26k) same mag. 150µm area

The data presented here demonstrates this remarkable improvement in resolution. The test sample used for this experiment is the interband region of a polytene chromosome. Figure 1 shows the sample as seen with an optical resolution of 700nm, close to the limit using conventional optical microscopy.

[NSOM Image of Tissue] Click image for a closer view of the AFM data (29k) 12µm

[NSOM Image of Tissue] Click image for a full view of the NSOM data (32k) same mag. 7.57µm

[NSOM Image of Tissue] Click image for a full view of the shear force topography data (87k) same mag. 7.57µm area acquired simultaneously.

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Images courtesy of Sid Ragona and Phil Haydon, Laboratory of Cellular Signaling, Dept. of Zoology and Genetics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
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