Electron microscopic motifs of biological structures. In Photoshop lavishly colored. Large-format art calendar printed in high quality: special fluorescent colours, UV clearcoat finish. Manual wire-o-ring binding.
Land plants have life cycles in which a haploid gametophyte generation alternates with a diploid sporophyte. In spiral mosses (Bryopsida sp.), the gametophyte is the dominant generation which is rarely the case in other species, and the sporophyte grows from the tip of a gametophyte. Sporocytes consist of a sporangium and a stalk. The Sporangium (or capsule) contains thousands of tiny spores. After the lid dries, shrinks and springs open the spores are released and dispersed by the wind.
Single ray flower (left) from a head consisting of several flowers (right) of the Common Daisy (Bellis perennis) with two small pollen grains sticking to the papillose cells of the pistil. Ray flowers from the margin of the head differ in morphology by developing five long, seamlessly adnate white petals, in order to attract pollinators. The petals from disc flowers in the center of the inflorescence, in contrast, form an inconspicuous tube.
Connective tissue and extracellular components (white) surround the muscle, which consists of individual muscle fibres of different types (red). Skeletal muscles responsible for body movement are voluntary controlled. Skeletal muscles comprise approximately 50% of the body´s weight. During the aging process, mammals lose up to a third of their mass and strength.
Biological surfaces are rarely smooth. High-magnification often reveals complex three-dimensional structures down to the nanometer range. Over millions of years flowering plants, such as daisies (Bellis perennis), have evolved complex multifunctional microstructures optimized to repel dirt, or to function as a convenient landing pads for insects. Here you can see the surface of a fresh sepal from a Daisy floret that was collected from the border of the inflorescence.
Mammals use specialized connective tissue, called adipose tissue, as cushion, to store energy and to prevent excessive loss of body heat. Technically, adipose tissue is highly organized and consists of 14-sided hexagons. This optimizes the storage capacity of individual fat cells, while reducing material costs and intercellular gaps to the minimum.
Adult Spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) are parasites that attack various plants and agricultural crops outdoors, in fruit orchards and greenhouses. The spider mite feeds by piercing a single epidermis cell of a plant leaf at a time and sucking the sap.
Eggs of the Great White (Pieris brassicae) look like extraterrestrial buildings. They protect the embryo caterpillar and are equipped with pores to provide sufficient oxygene. The eggs of butterflies can be orange, yellow, turquoise, dark gray or ivory, bear spines and have spots, stripes or spirals. It seems obvious that not only the laws of biology have helped to shape these little masterpieces – nevertheless, they are the result of an evolutionary process that has worked over millions of years!
Bacteria put the tang in yogurt and the sour in sourdough bread. Bacteria help to break down dead organic matter. Bacteria make up the base of the food web in many environments and they were among the earliest living organisms on earth. Colon bacteria (Escherichia coli) are symbiontically living inside the intestine of mammals, including humans.
Transformation of a healthy into a tumor cell is very complex and demands a cascade of genetic alterations. Tumor cells aquire the availibilty to move through different tissues in order to develope metastases. The image shows an invasively growing human cancer cell (prostate carcinoma), often establishing metastases in the boon marrow.
Bacteria can cause human and animal diseases. However, many species are totally harmless or even important symbionts for humans including species that inhabitate our gut and still others that are responsible for the production of antibiotics.
Spider mites (Tetranychus urticae) have two eyes on each side of the body. Spider mites are members of the Acari (mite) family Tetranychidae. They generally live on the undersides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, and they can cause damage by puncturing the plant cells to feed. Spider mites are known to feed on several hundred species of plants.
Insects possess compound eyes consisting of hundreds of rounded single lenses. Because the individual lenses are so small, the effects of diffraction impose a limit on the possible resolution that can be obtained (assuming that they do not function as phased arrays). This can only be countered by increasing lens size and number. To see with a resolution comparable to our simple eyes, humans would require compound eyes which would each reach the size of their heads.
A pistil is formed from the stigma (tip), sterile style (elongated part) and the ovary (bottom part; not visible). Small pollen (male reproductive cells) reach the female ovary by attaching on the stigma, growing inside the style and entering the ovule.
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