Magnetic resonance imaging approaching microscopic scale: maturation stages of Acetabularia mediterranea reproductive caps.

The reproductive cap of the giant single-celled alga Acetabularia mediterranea (or A. acetabulum) has rays tapering from a width of about 400 microns at the circumference of the cap to about 30 microns at their junction with the stalk of the cell. This is ideal geometry for testing the current limits of spatial resolution of proton magnetic resonance imaging. In this work, resolution of features down to 40 microns is achieved. Maturation of the cap rays involves a major cytoplasmic reorganization, from continuous cytoplasm and a central vacuole in each ray to bundles of cysts surrounded by aqueous solution. This work shows that an intermediate stage in the change can be highlighted in images by relaxation time (T1) contrasting.