Simultaneously localising biometals within the high resolution ultrastructure of whole C. elegans

Abstract

Ptychography is a coherent diffraction imaging method where multiple overlapping diffraction frames are combined, providing high resolution images of the electron density of extended objects. Recently, X-ray ptychography has seen many efficiency improvements that allow large areas to be imaged rapidly, making simultaneous X-ray ptychography and fluorescence microscopy experimentally viable. Here we use simultaneous X-ray fluorescence microscopy and ptychography to image entire C. elegans, with sub-micron and sub 100 nm elemental and ultrastructure resolutions respectively. Rapid data collection allowed the entire 1 mm long animal to be imaged in only a few hours. With the information from both techniques, the elemental maps can be viewed in the context of the high resolution ultrastructure, allowing further insights into the localisation of the fluorescent signal.