Grapevine gall mite in situ

Owners of grapevines would recognise the protrusions on the imaged leaf as blisters created by the gall mite. The mites live underneath the leaves, where they have induced outgrowths of grape leave skin cells, creating a fine curly home for themselves ;). But who has ever seen the gall mite? Not so easy….. First, their size is about 0.1mm, which is too small to see with the naked eye…… and second, they hide underneath the spaghetti. First problem required a cryo-scanning electron microscope. Second problem was solved here by fixing the leaf on a sample holder with cryo-glue and chopping off the upper part of the leaf blister, thereby revealing the inner parts of the mites home, see schematics. Still some searching needed, but at the end, yes, grapevine gall mite found! Also in stereo for those who have red/green stereo glasses. Hope you enjoyed this example of applying advanced Imaging for Horticulture Research at Consistence.nl in Barendrecht. Do not hesitate to contact us for your own research question e.g. in Horticulture.