Cellular & Molecular Imaging

The Darwin Tree of Life project has the goal to sequence the genomes of 70,000 species of eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland. This is a collection of photographs of the samples included in the study, provided by the National History Museum (NHM).

Using lacZ reporter mouse models, we mapped expression of the HH ligand SHH, HH receptors, and GLI transcription factors in fungiform, circumvallate and foliate taste papillae in early and late postnatal and adult stages. In adults we also studied the soft palate, and the geniculate and trigeminal ganglia, which extend afferent fibers to the anterior tongue.

Tara Expeditions are global scientific voyages that probe morphological and molecular diversity, evolution and ecology of marine plankton to explore how they are impacted by changes in the Earth's climate. The first expeditions collected samples of marine plankton containing viruses, bacteria, archaea, protists and planktonic metazoans living in the photic layer of the world's oceans. These expeditions, the first taking place between 2009 and 2013, include Tara Oceans: a global view, and Tara Oceans Polar Circle, both of which followed the same sampling protocol. This dataset includes 1074 pictures of 284 planktonic taxa (mainly microalgae and other Ciliate and Radiolarian protists) collected from the vicinity of the Marquesas Islands in the Southern Pacific Ocean during the Tara Oceans expedition. Multiple samples particularly of the size fractions 5-20 and 20 180 um from four sites and two depths were processed with different methods and studied in detail using scanning electron microscopy.

Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images of snow algae field samples containing Rosetta gen. nov., including type material.

Background Microsporidia sp. MB, a microsporidian symbiont found naturally in Anopheles mosquitoes, has potential as a novel malaria control tool since it can inhibit Plasmodium development and transmission. The most feasible MB-based Plasmodium control strategy would involve dissemination through live mosquito releases, or release of spores infective to mosquito larvae. To implement either strategy, establishment of stable mosquito colonies carrying MB at a high frequency is likely to be essential. The progeny of field caught An. gambiae s.l from Burkina Faso were isolated for individual egg laying and tested for MB. The progeny of the MB positive females were pooled and this process was repeated for multiple generations. The relative density of MB in different life stages and tissues of the An. coluzzii host was examined using a novel duplex qPCR assay. We also examined the impact of MB on fecundity through individualization for egg laying and counting of eggs. Finally, we examined laid eggs for presence of MB spores. Results Three An. coluzzii colonies and one An. gambiae s.l hybrid colony were established with high prevalence and density of MB and were maintained for more than two years with minimal intervention. MB prevalence and density was highest in eggs and adult females and lowest in L4 larvae; in adults density was highest in the gonads. Additionally, MB density increased in ovary samples following blood feeding which was likely due to the activation of sporogony. The production of spores is the reason why MB-carrying females lay more white non-hatching eggs and show a small reduction in fecundity. Conclusions Establishment of several stable MB carrying An. gambiae s.l colonies and understanding the impact of spores on fecundity are significant steps forward in developing MB as a malaria control tool.

"This dataset contains over 20,000 images of dipteran wings, mostly from mosquitoes. Each image is accompanied by extensive metadata available in the 00_metadata.* files. The dataset is intended to support research in wing geometric morphometry and the development of machine-learning approaches for vector surveillance and related studies. It is a retrospective collection that harmonises material gathered from research projects conducted between 2008 and 2026. Detailed metadata for each sample and image are provided in the 00_metadata.* files, and the submission also includes an overview of the scope and range of the collected metadata. Because the dataset was assembled retrospectively, images may vary in lighting, background, and capture conditions across projects. Although extensive effort was made to ensure comprehensive metadata, some entries remain incomplete. Missing metadata entries are marked as MISSING VALUE, while fields intentionally left blank are indicated with ""-"". For a full description of the dataset, see the associated publication at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-05043-3#Sec5. The dataset will be updated as additional mosquito and other dipteran wing images become available, and contributions from the scientific community are welcome. Because the dataset is too large for practical browser download, users are advised to access it via FTP. On Mac, wget can be installed with Homebrew and used to download the zipped dataset from ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/fire/S-BIAD/478/S-BIAD1478/Files/MosquitoWingImages_v2/Files/zipped/ into the WingImages folder in Documents. On Windows, users can install GnuWin32 wget, run the corresponding FTP download command in Command Prompt, and download the same zipped dataset into the WingImages folder in Documents."

Manuscript abstract: Malaria transmission relies on sporozoite formation in the mosquito midgut and subsequent salivary gland invasion. Despite their importance, the cell biology of these processes remains poorly understood. We apply Mosquito Tissue Ultrastructure Expansion Microscopy (MoTissU-ExM), which physically expands infected mosquito tissues while preserving host and parasite ultrastructure. MoTissU-ExM reveals parasite structures and organelles, including features previously seen only by electron microscopy and novel structures not observed before. We use MoTissU-ExM to investigate sporozoite formation and salivary gland invasion, focusing on rhoptries - secretory organelles critical for host cell invasion. We establish a timeline for rhoptry biogenesis, show that two rhoptries are consumed during salivary gland invasion, and provide the first evidence that rhoptry pairs are specialized for different invasion events. We further characterize RON11 as the first protein involved in sporozoite rhoptry biogenesis; its disruption produces sporozoites that specifically fail to invade salivary gland epithelial cells, blocking parasite transmission. Dataset description: This dataset contains all microscopy data associated with the linked publication "Unlocking new understanding of Plasmodium sporozoite biology with expansion microscopy". All samples were prepared by ultrastructure-expansion microscopy (U-ExM). All samples were imaged on either a Zeiss LSM900 or LSM980 microscope, using either Airyscan-SR or Airyscan-MPLX modes. File names will include the magnification of the objective lens used as follows: 5x = EC Plan-Neofluar 5x/0.16NA Air 10x = Ziess Plan-Apochromat 10x/0.45NA air 20x = Ziess Plan-Apochromat 20x/0.8NA air 40x = Zeiss C-Apochromat 40x/1.2NA water-immersion autocorr M27 63x = Zeiss Plan-Apochromat 63x/1.4NA oil-immersion M27 Images are of mosquito tissues, or isolated parasites, from three Plasmodium species - berghei (Pb), falciparum (Pf), and yoelii (Py). Images are sorted and named as follows (folder name, file name) Plasmodium species > Tissue type/site of isolation > Parasite strain > Species abbreviation, MG/SG, Harvest day(dpi), Dye/Fluorophores (405nm -> 647nm), Objective, Image number (1->X), as (airyscan) For example, the third image taken of a P. berghei oocyst with the RON11iKD parasite line, that was harvested on Day 14 post infection, stained with NHS Ester AF405, BODIPY-FL, anti-Tubulin AF555, and Sytox Red, and imaged on the 40x-objective would be listed as follows: Plasmodium berghei > Infected midguts > RON11iKD > RON11KD MG 14dpi NHSBFlTub-SytR 40x 1 as The majority of images in this dataset are z-stacked images, but for many oocysts a single-slice image of the whole oocyst was taken. When this is the case, the single-slice image will be indicated with "SNAP". A list of the acronyms and abbreviations used in file names are as follows MG = Midgut SG = Salivary gland Spz = Sporozoite HC = Haemocoel dpi = Days post infection NHS = NHS Ester Alexa Fluor 405 BFl = Bodipy-FL-Ceramide BTRc = Bodipy-TR-Ceramide SytR = Sytox Deep Red Tub = anti-tubulin antibody CSP = anti-circumsporozoite protein antibody RAP1 = anti-rhoptry associated protein 1 antibody iKD = Inducible knockdown Ctrl = Control KD = Knockdown RON4 = anti-rhoptry neck protein 4 antibody GFP = anti-green fluorescent protein antibody WGA = Wheat germ aglutinnin BIP = anti-BiP antibody ERD2 = anti-ERD2 antibody

"This dataset contains over 20,000 images of dipteran wings, mostly from mosquitoes. Each image is accompanied by extensive metadata available in the 00_metadata.* files. The dataset is intended to support research in wing geometric morphometry and the development of machine-learning approaches for vector surveillance and related studies. It is a retrospective collection that harmonises material gathered from research projects conducted between 2008 and 2026. Detailed metadata for each sample and image are provided in the 00_metadata.* files, and the submission also includes an overview of the scope and range of the collected metadata. Because the dataset was assembled retrospectively, images may vary in lighting, background, and capture conditions across projects. Although extensive effort was made to ensure comprehensive metadata, some entries remain incomplete. Missing metadata entries are marked as MISSING VALUE, while fields intentionally left blank are indicated with ""-"". For a full description of the dataset, see the associated publication at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-025-05043-3#Sec5. The dataset will be updated as additional mosquito and other dipteran wing images become available, and contributions from the scientific community are welcome. Because the dataset is too large for practical browser download, users are advised to access it via FTP. On Mac, wget can be installed with Homebrew and used to download the zipped dataset from ftp://ftp.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/fire/S-BIAD/478/S-BIAD1478/Files/MosquitoWingImages_v2/Files/zipped/ into the WingImages folder in Documents. On Windows, users can install GnuWin32 wget, run the corresponding FTP download command in Command Prompt, and download the same zipped dataset into the WingImages folder in Documents."

The Darwin Tree of Life project has the goal to sequence the genomes of 70,000 species of eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland. This is a collection of photographs of the samples included in the study, provided by the National History Museum (NHM).

The Darwin Tree of Life project has the goal to sequence the genomes of 70,000 species of eukaryotic organisms in Britain and Ireland. This is a collection of photographs of the samples included in the study, provided by the National History Museum (NHM).