The Current Biology Photomicrography Competition

The retrogradely traced ganglion cells — cell bodies, dendrites and axons — are coloured in yellow. The arborization of the dendrites is clearly visible between the sparsely distributed axons in the centre of the image, whereas the cell bodies at the top left are covered by prominent axon bundles. The ganglion cells were labelled by sticking a crystal of DiI into the stump of the optic nerve after formaldehyde fixation. (Tissue preparation and retrograde tracing was done in collaboration with Andreas Aschoff.) A total of 64 confocal images of the retina were taken using a 40× objective. The images were pseudo-coloured, then volume-rendered using IMARIS software. Dr Zuschratter's prize is a Fujifilm MX-1700 digital camera.