2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Visualization of directional energy flow in a photosynthetic membrane by means of time-resolved super-resolution microsopy

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23654151
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Biophysics/Chemical physics
Research Institution	Osaka City University
Principal Investigator	SUGISAKI Mitsuru 大阪市立大学, 大学院理学研究科, 准教授 (20360042)
Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha)	FUJII Ritsuko 大阪市立大学, 複合先端研究機構, 准教授 (80351740) HASHIMOTO Hideki 大阪市立大学, 複合先端研究機構, 教授 (50222211)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	顕微鏡 / 光合成
Research Abstract	A microscope with a super-high spatial resolution, especially in the near infrared spectral region, has been constructed to elucidate the early events of photosynthesis, and its performance has been tested. Images taken using the conventional fluorescence microscope configuration were spatially diffraction-limited. However, it was found that a spatial resolution of around 100 nm has been attained when the super-resolution configuration was employed, which is limited by the mechanical steps of the sample stage of the microscope used in the experiment. An add-on unit for taking time-resolved micro-images was also contracted and its temporal resolution was measured.