3. VEPS Rotifer - 1st PLACE

Bdelloid rotifers are microscopic freshwater invertebrates best known for their capacity to undergo frequent cycles of desiccation and rehydration, their long-term asexuality, which is manifested in the absence of males and meiosis, and the ability to capture foreign genetic material at levels unprecedented in metazoans (Science 320: 1210-1213). The image captured contraction of the longitudinal head retractor muscles, which led to retraction of the corona. This image of an adult female emphasizes characteristic structures such as the pharynx with a mastax consisting of hard jaws (trophi), stomach, a set of circular and longitudinal muscles, a foot with toes, and dual-layer cuticle.

The picture was obtained with new video enhanced polychromatic (VEP) polscope after background subtraction. The VEP polscope shows the orientation-independent birefringence image without requiring any digital computation. An eye or camera can directly see the colored polarization image in real time through the ocular with brightness corresponding to retardance and color corresponding to the slow axis azimuth. Taken with an Olympus BX-61 microscope, and Hamamatsu Orca C7780 3CCD camera. Magnification 20x objective.

By Michael Shribak and Irina Arkhipova