New Publication by Project A3

This publication reports for the first time the successful application of expansion microscopy (ExM) to fungi, allowing for visualising cellular structures with a spatial resolution of ≤60 nm with a confocal fluorescence microscope.

Access to super-resolution microscopy setups is often limited, whereas ExM can be applied in every wet lab in combination with standard fluorescence microscopy. The stained sample is just embedded into a polyacrylamide hydrogel and after digestion of the cell content, the fluorophores are isotropically expanded. The research team including Dr. Ulrich Terpitz (Project A3) used cell wall lytic enzymes to dissolve the fungal cell wall, resulting in an easily handled protocol for ExM of fungi applicable to ascomycetes as well as basidiomycetes including the clinically relevant fungus Aspergillus fumigatus.

Original paper:

Götz R, Panzer S, Trinks N, Eilts J, Wagener J, Turrà D, Di Pietro A, Sauer M, Terpitz U (2020) Expansion microscopy for cell biology analysis in fungi. Front Microbiol 11: 574.

Link to Frontiers