Camera Name: Digital Sight 10, SN:110067
Numerical Aperture: 0.75
Refractive Index: 1
 Name: Mono
 Component Count: 1
 Modality: Widefield Fluorescence
 Camera Settings:   
  Camera Type: Digital Sight 10
  Binning: 1x1
  Exposure: 100 ms
  Gain: 1.0
  Offset: 0.00
  Trigger Mode: Internal

 Microscope Settings:   Microscope: Ti2 Microscope
  Nikon Ti2, FilterChanger(Turret-Lo): 1 (Empty)
  Nikon Ti2, Shutter(DIA LED): Open
  Nikon Ti2, Illuminator(DIA): On
  Nikon Ti2, Illuminator(DIA) Iris intensity: 31.4
  LightPath: L100
  PFS, mirror: Inserted
  Zoom: 1.00x
  Sola II, Illuminator(Sola) Iris intensity: 18.0

«All-rounder Ti2 Eclipse for investigating climate change effects on plants and soil microorganisms»

All-rounder Ti2 Eclipse for investigating climate change effects on plants and soil microorganisms

Our research group aims to understand climate change (mainly warming and drought) effects on terrestrial biodiversity using microorganisms, invertebrates, and plants from grasslands. Our study approach involves experiments carried out both in the laboratory and in the field. One of our major research frameworks is to incorporate how various life forms (microorganisms, invertebrates, and plants) respond during and after climate extremes (e.g., heat waves). To do so, we measure population dynamics, life history and functional traits of our study organisms.

With the help of the UniBern Forschungsstiftung, we were able to acquire a state-of-the-art widefield microscope (Nikon Ti2 Eclipse) equipped with an automated stage, fluorescence camera, and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. Nikon Ti2 Eclipse has become our go-to microscope for high-resolution images to investigate microbial and plant traits in our experiments. Moreover, using AI techniques, we are able to acquire high-throughput data on the fungal colonization (e.g., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi) of plant roots. Finally, we are using this microscope to understand fungal-bacterial interactions using high-resolution fluorescence images. All these workflows strengthen our research to understand how microscopic organisms respond to climate change.

Prof. Dr. Madhav P. Thakur

Institute of Ecology and Evolution
Division Terrestrial Ecology

terr.iee.unibe.ch

Images by Nicolo Tartini (a), Jingjing Shi (b) and Jan Philip Tscheulin (c)

(a) Stomatal cells of Holcus lanatus
(b) Pseudomonas putida colonies on the hyphae of Morchella sextalata
(c) Stained roots for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore counting

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