
Scale of frame, 1.75mm horizontal
Canon 10D
Canon 20mm f.l. lens @ f/5.6 on extension tubes
Series of 45 images at .0005 inch increments
Diffused fiber optic illumination
Combine ZM, Photoshop
Collected 6/20/07, Imaged 6/20/07
I was going to hold this image for a while but Riks Dictoyostelium link in Myxomycetes XIII, displayed a nice diagram of the social amoebic cells starting the formation of the new fruiting body. See lettered stages c-d-e. The object of most interest in this image is the small orange feature on the lower right. Although not cellular slime molds, myxomycetes follow a similar sequence and this image shows the earliest possible stage of the fruiting body formation that I can obtain with macro graphic equipment pushed to the maximum. The next step is through the microscope to catch the first emergence of the first cells to form the hypothallus.
My first thoughts on this were that these cells may be transparent in nature. As the object in the lower right would attest even at this stage they may be the color of the peridium of the fruiting body. The rising spherical peridium in the center has not set formed its stalk in this image. It never did as extracting it from its environment for this image changed the conditions of emergence and it stopped. Enjoy this rare sight for a myxo hunter.
Walt