Video of Microorganisms Found in the Gut of a Termite Won the Nikon Small World in Motion 2021 Competition

The 11th annual Nikon Small World In Motion competition winners have been announced. The first place goes to Fabian J. Weston for this amazing video of live microorganisms that live in the gut of a termite.

These termite gut microorganisms play an essential role of digesting plant-based cellulose (namely, wood). And they're actually quite difficult to capture on film. It turns out that they are sensitive to light and oxygen levels, and the slightest change in environment can cause both the termite and its guts microorganisms to die.

"I tried a lot of methods, even preparing my own saline solution. They're very sensitive to oxygen, so I had to remove as much gas from the solution as possible. It was very tricky, and I had to work fast. The video you’re seeing is the result of months of trial and error, a lot of research and perseverance," said Weston in the Nikon Small World in Motion website.

#Nikon #NikonSmallWorldinMotion #microscopy #photomicrography

Take a look at the winning videos of the Nikon Small World in Motion  2021:

Nikon Small World in Motion 2021 - First Place

Microfauna in a termite gut

Fabian J. Weston
Protist Lab Films
Sydney, Australia

Polarized Light
10X, 20X & 40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Nikon Small World in Motion 2021 - Second Place

10-day time-lapse of an engineered human micro-tumor forming and metastizing. Blood vessels (red) support the growing tumor (blue).

Dr. Stephanie Hachey & Dr. Christopher Hughes
University of California, Irvine
Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Irvine, California, USA

Confocal, Fluorescence
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Nikon Small World in Motion 2021 - Third Place

Water flea (Daphnia pulex) giving birth to cubs 

Andrei Savitsky
Cherkassy, Ukraine

Darkfield
4X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Nikon Small World in Motion 2021 - Fourth Place

Commissural axons turning in an organized manner just after having crossed the midline of the central nervous system

Dr. Alexandre Dumoulin
University of Zurich
Department of Molecular Life Sciences
Zurich, Switzerland

Confocal
40X (Objective Lens Magnification)

Nikon Small World in Motion 2021 - Fifth Place

Infected mosquito salivating fluorescently-labeled malaria parasites

Dr. Sachie Kanatani & Dr. Photini Sinnis
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Confocal
10X (Objective Lens Magnification)

The highlight reel, including the honorable mentions.

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