Helium ion microscopy and ultra-high-resolution scanning electron microscopy analysis of membrane-extracted cells reveals novel characteristics of the cytoskeleton of Giardia intestinalis

Nail Damage (Severe Onychodystrophy) Induced by Acrylate Glue: Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Investigations

“…SEM is a noninvasive technique which can be used for micro- and nanoscale observation and the characterization of inorganic or organic solids (revealing the microstructure, morphology, and fracture topography) [5,15,16,17], while the SEM technique can be used for the investigation of cells [18], tissues [5,14,19,20], fragments of organs, or even organisms of suitable size [21,22]. …”

New views of the Toxoplasma gondii parasitophorous vacuole as revealed by Helium Ion Microscopy (HIM)

“…Other examples on the potential and reliability of HIM were given by Bazou et al (2011) analysis of colon cancer cells and, more recently, by Joens et al (2013) for the study of plants, HeLa cells, bacteria and nematodes as well as Pȃunescu et al (2014) describing aspects of the male reproductive tract of rats. Novel characteristics on the cytoskeleton of Giardia lamblia have also been reported by observing detergent extracted trophozoites (Gadelha et al, 2015).…”

The Cytoskeleton of Giardia intestinalis

“…They are connected to each other by crossbridges that present a periodicity of 15-16 nm [13,16]. Disk microtubules originate from dense bands in a region near the caudal and posterior-lateral basal bodies [16][17][18]. Capped microtubule ends found in this region show that these comprise minus-end areas,…”

“…Observation made by several microscopy techniques shows clearly that the disk is not a homogeneous structure displaying several regions [14,18]. High-resolution micrographs obtained by ultra-high resolution scanning electron microscope (SEM), helium ion microscopy (HIM), and cryo-electron microscopy tomography show the existence of different domains of the ventral disk [14,18].…”

“…The first region, designated as the dense band microtubule nucleation zone (Figure 2a), comprises an area of microtubules nucleation where the microtubules which continue into the disk body are assembled and another area containing a bundle of approximately 20 short microtubules [14], known as supernumerary microtubules [13], which curve slightly opposite to the main disk spiral [18] (Figure 2a). It is important to point out that microribbons have not been associated with the microtubules found in the dense zone [14].…”