We are pleased to announce the winners of the Light Microscopy Australia Image Competition in 2019. This year’s competitions was open to ALL optical microscopists based in Australia.

This resulted in over 100 submissions across the four categories available (Live Cell Imaging, Life Sciences, In Vivo Imaging, Materials Sciences). Each category will award a $400 first prize and a $200 second prize. We would like to thank the sponsors of each category, Optiscan, Zeiss Australia and Nikon for their support of the competition.

 

Live Cell Category Winners
Life Science Category Winners
Materials Science Category Winners

 

IN VIVO CATEGORY

Proudly sponsored by OptiScan

 

 

 

1ST PRIZE: Nazanin Ghazanfari, Peter Doherty Institute

Imaging T cell responses in the brain during cerebral malaria – Two-photon laser scanning microscopy was performed through a cover-slipped cranial window. Images were acquired with an upright FVMPE-RS multiphoton microscope (Olympus). Malaria-specific CD4+ (PbT-II/uGFP) and CD8+ (PbT-I/DsRed) T cells were injected intravenously into mice one day before infection with malaria parasites. Mice were infected with the rodent malaria line GFP-expressing PbA clone P. berghei ANKA. Qdot-655 was injected into the mice intravenously to label the blood vasculature.

---

2ND PRIZE: Igor Bonacossa Pereira, Queensland Brain Institute

Question mark – This is a live young nematode C. elegans of about 340 micrometers in length imaged in a Yokogawa W1 spinning disk confocal microscope. In magenta, is the cellullar membrane of the epidermis of the worm reported by mCherry fused to a phospholipase lipid binding domain being driven by an epidermal promoter. In green, is the cytoplasm of the touch sensing neurons reported by GFP expression driven by a touch neuron specific promoter.

---

Commendation: Max Nobis, Garvan Institute of Medical Research

In vivo RhoA acitivty in breast cancer – Using optical window imaging on primary MMTV-PyMT driven mammary tumours expressing the RhoA-FRET biosensor, RhoA activity is visualized and mapped using 2-photon in vivo imaging. Offspring of MMTV-PyMT mice crossed to RhoA-FRET biosensor mice were allowed to develop sporadic primary tumours and implanted with optical imaging windows. The RhoA-FRET biosensor is depicted in green, tumour extracellular matrix structures in magenta (collagen I by second harmonic generation SHG) and the vasculature in red.

---

Commendation: Harriet Manley, Monash University

Lattice lightsheet microscopy of migrating neutrophils in vivo – Lattice lightsheet microscopy (LLSM) surface renders of a membrane-labelled neutrophil migrating in live zebrafish larvae. The image represents a single neutrophil captured at different time points (9sec apart) during its rapid migration path to a wound. Fluorescence labelling: mCherry-Caax transgene driven by neutrophil-specific mpx promoter.