#microscopy

Travelling Light

This study presents a 3D imaging and analytic pipeline based on light sheet microscopy for tracking cancer spread to new sites and revealing how the malignant cells interact with vessels there. Shown is breast cancer that's travelled to the lung in a mouse model.

Read the published research article here

Image from work by Sabrina M. Lewis and colleagues

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in npi Imaging, November 2025

This weeks microscopy features Rosulabryum billardierii (Bryaceae). This moss species is found widespread in Victoria in most habitats and on most substrate (this one was found in my yard!).

This species has rosettes of leaves that give it a star-shaped appearance. The leaf margin is bordered by cells, and the apex and costa are lightly toothed, giving it a distinctive appearance.

We're taking a break from bryophytes this week to look at Grevillea rosmarinifolia (Proteaceae), aka the rosemary grevillea. And buckle in, because I have a *lot* of photos to share. The above is a mature, open flower while....

...these are opening flowers! This Grevillea is native to south-eastern Australia it is also a common horticultural plant, with a huuuuge variety of cultivars and hybrids in production.

Plants are usually a shrub of 0.3-2m with dense, and very prickly, foliage. Flowers are a typical Grevillea flower (they have tepals and a pollen presenter) with the wild forms being red-pink.

Flower buds are green instead of white. They change colour as they mature.

This specimen, which is from a plant growing on campus, also had pink pollen! Very exciting indeed. The pollen on this pollen presenter had the most perfect impression of the anthers I've ever seen.

Like, look at that. Gorgeous.

For those that don't know, Grevillea anthers dehisce pollen onto the pollen presenter before the flower fully opens.

And another reminder, Grevillea pollen is triangular!