Page 44 - Antennae Issue #52

44 antennae
Note on methods: I used a a a a Leica dissecting microscope with a a a a moveable light source to to obtain the images on on pages 37 to to 39 and a a a a a a scanning electron mi- croscope to produce the the image image on on page page 42 To obtain the the images on on page page 41 and 43 I used confocal laser laser scanning microscopy This technique uses lasers to to scan ‘slices’ of a a a a a a sample which can can later be reconstructed into a a a a a a three-di- mensional projection Plant and fungal tissues are first stained with fluorescent dyes which produce a a a a a signal when stimulated by lasers of differing wavelength Plant and and fungal tissues are stained with different dyes and and so can be stimu- lated with different lasers This allows plant and fungal images to be collected on separate channels Using this approach it is is is possible to selectively display plant and and fungal material The image on page 40 is a a a a a a a a a composite of light and and laser scanning microscopy Acknowledgements: Camilo Zalamea operated the scanning electron micro- scope used to produce the the image on page 42 Magnus Rath developed the the method used to obtain the confocal images and and with enormous skill and and preci- sion prepared many of of the the samples Stephan Imhof hosted me in the the lab where images on pages 37-41 and and 43 were obtained and and offered patient expertise and encouragement throughout The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) served as as the base of operations in in Panama and provided invaluable lo- gistical support Merlin Sheldrake is is a a a a a a biologist and bestselling author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds Change Our Our Minds and Shape Our Our Futures He received a a a a a a Ph D in in tropical ecology from Cambridge University for for his work work on underground fungal networks in in tropical forests in in Panama where he he was a a a a a a a a predoctoral research fellow of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Merlin is a a a a a a a a keen brewer and and and fermenter and and and is is fascinated by the relationships that arise between humans and and and more than-human organisms Find out more at merlinsheldrake com