PUMPKIN Cells Under the Microscope 🔍

Let’s dive into the cells of this very smol pumpkin 🧡

I made a time laps (I sped up the video 17 times) so we could see how dynamic the inside of the cells is! When magnified 400 times, you can see strands of cytoplasm moving and transporting small molecules around, it’s fascinating 🥹

The flowing movement of the cytoplasm inside a cell is called cytoplasmic streaming, or cyclosis, and it’s driven by the skeleton of the cell called the cytoskeleton. This skeleton is pretty complex, it’s partially made of actin filaments and myosin motor proteins, which are also found in our cells, especially muscle cells! They allow a rapid movement of organelles (the organs of the cell), nutrients, metabolites and other molecules throughout the cell. Without this mechanism, it would take forever for the materials to go from point A to point B by simple diffusion, the cell wouldn’t be able to adapt to its needs and wouldn’t survive ☹️

In the video you can also see the beautiful orange pigments present in pumpkin cells! These fruits from the Curcubita genus are filled with carotenoids which give them a coloration ranging between yellow and red. Carotenoids are also found in carrots, mangos, tomatoes, corn, papayas and guavas, to name a few. Carotenoids found in fruits and vegetables can be transformed into vitamin A by our body and it also lowers the risks of several health issues like cardiovascular diseases, cataracts and certain types of skin cancers! There are also lots of other biologically active compounds in pumpkins like cryptoxanthin, lutein, polysaccharides, phytosterols, phenolic acids, unsaturated fatty acids and proteins. It has been shown that pumpkin extracts from different parts of the plant have anti-diabetic, antibacterial, hypocholesterolemic, anticancer, anti bladder stone activity and many other beneficial properties!

Videos taken with my iPhone mounted on a BA310E Motic microscope with an @ilabcam ultra adapter 🔬

References:
Krimer-Malešević, V. (2020). Pumpkin seeds: Phenolic acids in pumpkin seed (Cucurbita pepo L.). In Nuts and seeds in health and disease prevention (pp. 533-542). Academic Press.

Liu, S., Liu, H., Lin, M., Xu, F., & Lu, T. J. (2017). Intracellular microfluid transportation in fast growing pollen tubes. In Modeling of microscale transport in biological processes (pp. 155-169). Academic Press.

Provesi, J. G., Dias, C. O., & Amante, E. R. (2011). Changes in carotenoids during processing and storage of pumpkin puree. Food Chemistry, 128(1), 195-202.

Wayne, R. (2019). Actin- and Microfilament-Mediated Processes. Plant Cell Biology, 171–186.

[MicroFrogLab]

Your shorts are amazing, i wil subscribe to see more :D

[tomodowd]

I didn't see movement or cytoskeleton when I tried this. Could it be that your pumpkin is more fresh than mine? (And the cellular processes are still active?). Or could it be your smol species of pump? Any tips? THANKS! - science teacher