Pompholyxophrys: light- and electron-microscope images

[Ecki]

In the year 1869 Archer and Greef independently found this beautiful spherical amoeba. Greef named it Hyalolampe and Archer Pompholyxophrys. As Archer's discovery was a bit earlier the genus is now known as Pompholyxophrys Archer 1869.

The type species is Pompholyxophrys punicea Archer 1869. It is a spherical amoeba with concentric layers of perforated siliceous perles covering the protoplast. Pseudopodia emerge through the layers of perles. It feeds on small algae and can be found mainly in sphagnum moors. It is never abundant.

The different species of this genus have different perles.

Historically it was regarded as a heliozoan. Later it was discovered that it lacks distinguished features of heliozoans as it didn't have axoneme in the axopodia (thus making them pseudopodia) and it lacks kinetocysts. It was placed in a group pseudoheliozoans and Rainer (1968) created the group rotosphaerids to place Pompholyxophrys together with some other pseudoheliozoans. There is very little recent research on this genus as nobody has yet discovered how to culture Pompholyxophrys in the laboratory. Patterson is suggesting that Pompholyxophrys is related to the nucleariid amoeba and that is the current state of taxonomy for this genus.









The light microscopic images have been taken by my partner Steffen. More on Pompholyxophrys can be found here: http://www.penard.de/Nucletmycea/Pompho ... index.html

Best regards,
Eckhard

[pwnell]

Incredible. I presume the circular objects in the light microscope images correspond to the spherical "shells" in the SEM image?

[Pau]

Well done!
These are extraordinary images with very intersting information.

[Olympusman]

Astounding!
I gotta get me one of them electronical microscopes.

[carlos.uruguay]

Maravilloso!!!!!!!
Marvelous!!!!

[Sam236]

great photos.

now I pity how little we can see by using light microscope, even with DIC. well, the fact is photons are much bigger than the electrons.

[pwnell]

great photos.

now I pity how little we can see by using light microscope, even with DIC. well, the fact is photons are much bigger than the electrons.

Technically the photons are smaller than electrons. They have less energy and hence a longer wavelength than the electrons therefore the lower resolving power but I get your point. I do however see some benefits in the light microscope - the ability to see inside the amoeba. I presume this is not possible with the electron microscope, right?

[Jacek]

SUPER !

[Ecki]

DIC images are optical sections of the real object. A sphere becomes a circle. The SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) is comparable to reflected light microscopy and the TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope) to transmitted light microscopy.

Unfortunately the TEM requires even more preparation and the use of uranium salts to enhance contrast. I am showing the shape with the help of the SEM and inner details as well as the light microscopic appearance with DIC.

[piermicro]

Really great work.

[RogelioMoreno]

Wow, amazing details!

Rogelio

[vasselle]

Very nice photos

[_Michal_]

Great photos, especially thrird one.