1. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest 2010 Art in Phytopathology Competition sponsored by the APS Graduate Student Committee

2. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest 1 st Place in Microscopy “Rainbow” (10X) I marked the area I wanted to observe through the microscope with a purple Sharpie marker and noticed that the heat from the light bulb was boiling the dye I placed on the leaves (lactophenol cotton blue) and making the colors from the marker separate, creating a beautiful rainbow effect.

3. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest 2 nd Place in Microscopy “Blue Soybeans” (20X) I marked the area I wanted to observe through the microscope with a blue Sharpie marker and noticed that it clearly stained the borders of the plant cells and stomates.

4. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest 3 rd Place in Microscopy “ET-The Extra Terrestrial” This is a fluorescent image of a germinating blueberry pollen grain stained with a nitric oxide indicator dye. The two ‘tentacle’ like structures are the pollen tubes while the ‘eyes’ and ‘mouth’ of this microscopic green alien are natural apertures on the pollen grain. This image was taken as a part of a comparative project of the conidia of a blueberry pathogen and pollen grains.

5. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest Microscopy “Fishing for Spores” (10X) Some areas of the soybean leaves appeared to be lighter than others. In this case, the lighter areas created the shape of a fish, and the blue eye is a stomate dyed with lactophenol cotton blue.

6. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest Microscopy “Egg of Soybean Cyst Nematode” Egg of soybean cyst nematode : The image shows SCN juvenile developing within the egg. Stylet is clearly visible.

7. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest Microscopy “Second Stage Juvenile of Soybean Cyst Nematode” The image shows second stage juvenile of soybean cyst nematode just hatched from an egg.

8. 2010 Art in Phytopathology Contest Microscopy “Second Stage Juvenile of Soybean Cyst Nematode” Second stage juvenile of soybean cyst nematode hatching from the egg