Bio-EM Images
Images courtesy of Dr. Aaron Bell
Copyrighted images are intended exclusively for educational use.
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Head and upper thorax of a centipede. 
Water mites are commonly found in pond water and prey on insect larvae and small crustaceans. 
Bursaria truncatella – Bursaria are among the largest species of ciliated protozoa (about 1 mm). They prey on smaller protozoa such as Paramecium. 
Didinium eating a Paramecium. 
Dileptus anser- Dileptus is a predatory ciliate that will capture smaller protozoa with its long proboscis-like appendage that contains trichocysts, which paralyze their prey. They will then use their “trunk” to move prey into their cytosome at the base of their trunks, which is visible in this image. 
Euplotes sp. – These cells are doral-ventrally flattened and possess compound ciliary structures called cirri on their ventral surface that are used for locomotion through the water or along surfaces. They prey upon smaller protozoan species. 
Tetmemena pustulata – As with Euplotes, these ciliated protozoa are dorsal-ventrally flattened and possess cirri that are used in locomotion. This cell is in a late stage of division. 
Tetmemena pustulata – Dorsal surface of cell showing rows of single short cilia that extend the length of the cell. 
Tetmemena pustulata –This cell is in an early stage of division as evidenced by the formation of a duplicate cytosome forming below the existing cytosome. 
Tetmemena pustulata – Hypotrich ciliates such as Tetmemena can be experimentally manipulated to form a duplicate set of ciliature on the same cell, resulting in a side-by-side “conjoined twin” cell called a mirror-imaged doublet. Interestingly, the mirror-imaged cytosome is rotated 180 degrees resulting in food items being propelled out of the cytosome. Because the cell has a normal cytosome, the cell can feed normally and divide true to form.
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Blepharisma sp. – Blepharisma are another species of ciliate that typically possess pigmented granules and appear pink in the light microscope. The cells in this image are in the process of conjugating, which results in genetic recombination and nuclear reorganization within the cells. 
Drosophila larva and egg – This image shows a Drosophila larva next to an egg (bottom right corner). 
Drosophila egg. 
Jaw hooks above the mouth in a Drosophila larva. 
Epithelial cells of a goldfish gill. 
Foraminifera test – Foraminifera are amoeboid protists with an external shell called a test. 
Jumping spider head showing 6 of its 8 eyes. 
Megakaryocyte – Megakaryocytes are large cells found in the bone marrow that produce platelets. 
Moth eye and antenna. 
Australian seashell
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Spider mite – Some species of spider mite such as this one can be found on plants and appear as small red dots. 
Tetrahymena thermophila – A small ciliated protozoa that is used as a model organism for cilia research. 
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly head 
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly wing scales 
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly wing scales 
Fossil diatom from diatomaceous earth sample. 
High magnification of fossil diatom from diatomaceous earth sample. 
Fossil shark tooth. 
Fossil shark tooth. 
TEM – Cross sections through the cilia of a cirrus in the hypotrich ciliate Tetmemena pustulata. This protozoan uses their cirri to swim and move along surfaces.
TEM – Longitudinal sections through the cilia of a cirrus in the hypotrich ciliate Tetmemena pustulata. This protozoan uses their cirri to swim and move along surfaces.
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Hypotrich ciliate. 
Ciliate protist Spirostomum. 
Moss chloroplast – Freeze fracture 
Unknown ciliate protist. 
Spider. 
Freshwater diatom 
Dogwood pollen grain. 
Hypotrich ciliate protist. 
Easter Lily pollen grain. 
Euglypha sp. Test covered in bacteria.
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Tick 
Insect nymph from pond water. 
Freshwater diatom (?). 
TEM of mouse kidney tubules with blood vessel. 
Freshwater crustacean. 
Freshwater copepod with eggs. 
Ciliated cells on the surface of a Xenopus tadpole. 
Pollen inside the intestines of a bee. Specimen imaged with an ultra variable-pressure detector (UVD), which rendered the intestinal gut lining “transparent” thereby enabling imaging of the pollen inside the intestinal tract of the bee. Image courtesy of April Sharp from Dr. Rebecca Irwin’s lab. 
Uranyl acetate precipitate. Uranyl acetate can form precipitate in the presence of various minerals (particularly phosphate) during negative staining. The resulting precipitate can result in aesthetically beautiful formations. 
Uranyl acetate precipitate.
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Paramecium. 
Vorticella protist colony. 
TEM of cilium cross section showing the transport of a doublet pair being transported along the outside of the cilium to the tip. 
Voriticella and suctorian protist colonies. 
Voriticella and suctorian protist colonies anchored on the back of a snail. 
Paramecium with cilia fixed in metachrony. 
Spider. 
Spider head. 
Freshwater diatoms with unknown protist. 
Bouquet of diatoms.
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Spirochete bacterium. 
Suctorian attached to copepod. 
Suctorian attached to copepod. 
Tardigrade. 
Tick head. 
Vorticella with stalk. 
Xenopus tadpole 
Yeast freeze fracture 
Easter Lily Pollen 
Hypotrich ciliate
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Cross section of axonemes from the protozoan ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. The axoneme on the left is from a wild type cell whereas the axoneme on the right is from a conditional mutant cell that is missing the outer dynein arms. The dynein arms are responsible for bend formation in the cilium. 
Water mite – Arrenurus sp. (male) 
Dandelion pollen 
TEM – Cross sections through the cilia of membranelles (oral apparatus) in the hypotrich ciliate Tetmemena pustulata. 
Freshwater diatom. 
Seahorse 
Spider mite head 
Australian seashell 
Desmid zygote 
Jumping spider
