Microprocessing II

Chloroplast Movements, Darron Luesse, Indiana University
Time-lapse microscopy, Leaf cells (Arabidopsis thaliana)
movie edited by Dennis DeHart

Chloroplast Movements, like some of the other time-lapse microscopy images in the exhibition, shows the movements of cellular structures (organelles) in response to light stimuli. Think of adjusting your blinds in response to bright sunlight. In plants, the adjustment is made by dynamic protein filaments that drag chloroplasts toward or away from the cell periphery in response to varying intensities of light. Through detection of these responses, scientists have discovered palpable evidence of irritability—one of the defining qualities of life.

irritability: n. 1. the property of protoplasm and of living organisms that permits them to react to stimuli.

– Webster’s Dictionary

Striatella Division
Jeremy and Julie Picket-Heaps
Time-lapse microscopy sequence (movie in exhibit)
Diatom (Striatella sp.) --- see Cytographics for more about their work