Journal: Insects

Article Title: Cellular Uptake and Tissue Retention of Microplastics in Black Soldier Fly Larvae

doi: 10.3390/insects16111169

Figure Lengend Snippet: CSLM detection of fluorescent microplastics in BSFL tissues over time. Representative images showing tissue sections exposed to FITC-labeled microplastics (green) and counterstained with DRAQ5 for nuclei (red). Control group tissues displayed no evident fluorescence (top row). At 1 h post-exposure, strong FITC signals (arrowheads) were observed in association with tissue structures, indicating early microplastic adherence and uptake. At 6 h, microplastic aggregates were detected within the tissue microenvironment, closely associated with hemocyte-like cells (arrowheads). By 24 h and 48 h, microplastic clusters persisted but appeared more localized, suggesting progressive cellular internalization or tissue sequestration. After 7 days, residual microplastic fluorescence was still visible (arrowheads), albeit with reduced intensity, indicating long-term retention within larval tissues. Scale bars = 20 µm.

Article Snippet: Cellular nuclei were visualized with the fluorescent dye Draq5 (DRAQ5 ® , Cat. No. 4084, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA), using an excitation wavelength of 543 nm and an emission bandwidth of 661–759 nm.

Techniques: Labeling, Control, Fluorescence

Journal: Development (Cambridge, England)

Article Title: Single-cell transcriptomic profiling of the whole colony of Botrylloides diegensis : insights into tissue specialization and blastogenesis

doi: 10.1242/dev.204265

Figure Lengend Snippet: Overview of the experimental pipeline and clustering results. (A) Single cells were prepared using the acetic methanol (ACME) maceration method . Cells were stained with DRAQ5 and sorted by FACS. Cells were captured in droplets using a 10x Chromium system. Single-cell libraries were prepared and sequenced. After mapping the transcripts to the genome, clustering analysis was performed to identify the cell types. (B) UMAP clustering analysis revealed 29 single-cell clusters. Each cluster was color-coded. (C) Heatmap of the top five marker genes in each cluster.

Article Snippet: ACME-fixed cells were stained with the DNA dye DRAQ5 to sort intact single cells from cellular debris and aggregates (eBioscience 0.66 μl/ml of 5 mM stock).

Techniques: Staining, Marker