Tomographic imaging of biological specimens with the cryo transmission X-ray microscope

Using the photoelectric absorption contrast between water and protein at 2.4 nm wavelength, cryo X-ray microscopy has visualized protein structures down to 30 nm size in unstained, unsectioned biological specimens. Due to the large depth of focus of the Fresnel zone plate objectives, computed tomography based on a tilt series of X-ray microscopic images can be used to reconstruct the three-dimensional specimen structure. This method has been applied to the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and to cell nuclei of male Drosophila melanogaster fruit fly cells.