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>>>>Is it possible to see ribosomes with a compound microscope? I was able to snap this short video using my cell phone camera of a Spirogyra cell, in it you'll be able to see round objects moving from one side of the cell to the other, the chloroplast and pyrinoid are clearly visible and are the larger round units, and so I'm wondering if the little round moving spheres are indeed cytoplasmic ribosomal units?
Mircrostar IV
1000x Oil immersion
1.25 Abbe condenser
0.9% Normal saline medium solution
Video speed was not altered.
https://youtu.be/6nCWgue53VY

Hi Plasmid,
nice catch. Maybe it could also be mitochondria?

Absolutely not, you can't see single ribosomes not even polysomes (multiple ribosomes on the same mRNA as string on beads). Best case scenario you can see things like Nissl granules in neurons which are made up of large amounts of rough endplasmic reticulum that stains well with basic dyes because of the high amount of negatively charged ribosomal RNA present.

I also see the granules you documented moving around due to actomyosin complex facilitated cyclosis but did not reach as far as identifying what they are. I think they are storage granules of some sort, like little starchy bumps shuffled around.

The mitochondria inside the microtubuli would be still withing the visible size range (size 0.5 micrometer to 1 micrometer)

Thank you for the clarification, doing some research into it , I read that its could be in fact storage granules, although mitochondria are also visible with a compound microscope , it mentioned that the use of a dye was required. Is there any specimen where the mitochondria is clearly visible at higher magnification without a dye ?

This is a video of onion cells showing cyclosis (cytoplasmic streaming). You can see 2 classes of objects, big highly refractile bodies (storage granules I suspect) and if you pay close attention you can spot smaller bodies of lower contrast that appears somewhat more heterogenous in shape (visible in some planes of the second and third frames). I think these are mitochondria. One can definitely see mitochondria with a light microscope, especially in a fluorescent microscope if the mitochondria are labelled with GFP or mitotracker but high resolution DIC microscopy with contrast enhancement can clearly show mitochondria (if I find such a DIC video I'll post it here).



Btw I have a video showing the tip of a Spirogyra with lots of moving stuff including big chunks of cytoplasmic content getting transferred around. In case you are interested I can upload it to youtube.

Wes wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:55 pm

Btw I have a video showing the tip of a Spirogyra with lots of moving stuff including big chunks of cytoplasmic content getting transferred around. In case you are interested I can upload it to youtube.

Yes, please do!
Thanks
Louise

LouiseScot wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 21, 2020 5:16 pm

Wes wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 04, 2020 6:55 pm

Btw I have a video showing the tip of a Spirogyra with lots of moving stuff including big chunks of cytoplasmic content getting transferred around. In case you are interested I can upload it to youtube.

Yes, please do!
Thanks
Louise

As you wish, sir!

Cool! Thanks
Louise