Imaging with… John Innes Centre Bioimaging

In our ‘Imaging with…’ blog post, we meet the team from John Innes Centre Bioimaging, Norwich, UK.

Staff role call

Jake Richardson, Bioimaging Platform Manager
Expertise:Electron microscopy of plants, microbes, and viruses.
Favourite microscope:They are all fantastic, however I have a strong connection with the TEM. It was this microscope and the associated cryo-electron microscopy role that brought me to the JIC in 2018.
Favourite thing to image:Hard to name just one thing; that’s why I’m grateful to work in a platform where I can work on so many samples!

Eva Wegel, Senior Light Microscopist
Expertise:light microscopy from stereos via epifluorescence, confocal/Airyscan to structured illumination, also histology.
Most likely to be found training and troubleshooting on microscopes
Favourite microscope:Zeiss Elyra 7 and any Zeiss confocal with Airyscan
Favourite thing to image:anything as long as it has visual impact

Rhea Stringer, Electron Microscopist
Expertise:sample preparation, embedding, sectioning, and imaging using Volume EM, TEM, SEM, and Cryo-SEM of plant and microbial samples.
Most likely to be found in the sectioning room, or on the EM!
Favourite microscope:Scanning electron microscope
Favourite thing to image: Flowers
Best bit of advice (that you give or have been given): Believe in your infinite potential. Your only limitations are those you set upon yourself.

Saima Rehman, Cryo Electron Microscope Support Specialist
Expertise:Transmission electron microscope, Microcrystal Electron Diffraction and Cryo Electron Tomography.
Most likely to be found Back and forth between lab and office, discussing PhD/postdoc/PI’s TEM-related research, “dream projects” and making them come true.
Favourite microscope:Titan Krios
Favourite thing to image:Macromolecules and Microcrystals.
Best bit of advice (that you give or have been given): “Let your results speak for you.”
 
Viraj Alimchandani, Optical Microscopy Support Specialist
Expertise:widefield and confocal microscopy, fluorescence lifetime and bleaching experiments, and image analysis with scripting.
Most likely to be found troubleshooting users’ elaborate experimental setups
Favourite microscope:Zeiss Elyra 7 and any Zeiss confocal with Airyscan
Favourite thing to image:I have a soft spot for plant organs with interesting shapes, most recently the apical hook and the anthers.
Best bit of advice (that you give or have been given): Think about your analysis before doing your imaging – make sure you cover everything you need before it is too late.

Microscope role call

Light microscopes: 2x Leica M165C, Leica M205FA, 2x Zeiss Axio Zoom V16 (one with Apotome 2), Zeiss Axio Observer Z1, Zeiss Axio Imager Z2, Leica TCS SP8X with Picoquant FLIM, Leica Stellaris 8 with FALCON FLIM, Zeiss LSM880 Airyscan fast, Zeiss LSM 980 with Airyscan 2, Zeiss Elyra 7.

Electron microscopes: FEI Talos F200C TEM, FEI Nova NanoSEM, Zeiss Gemini 300.

Preparation equipment: Leica EM TP, Leica EM ICE, Leica AFS2, PELCO EasyGlo, Leica ACE200, Leica ACE600, Agar carbon coater, FEI Vitrobot, Leica ARTOS 3D, Leica UC7, Leica KMR3 knife-maker, Leica TRIM 2, Leica VT1000 vibratome, Leica CPD300, CryoStar NX70 cryostat, Lauda RE 415 S.

Image processing software:  Zeiss Arivis Vision4D, Zeiss AIM for LSM 5, UEA – VolViewer, FEI – Amira v5, FIJI / ImageJ, Zeiss – ZEN, SVI – Huygens Essential, PicoQuant – SymPhoTime64, Leica – LAS X, Adobe Photoshop, LithoGraphX, MetaMorph.

Who can access the facility?

We support research at the John Innes Centre and across the Norwich Research Park, including The Sainsbury Laboratory, Quadram Institute, Earlham Institute, the University of East Anglia, and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

Our primary expertise is in plant and microbial studies, but we are happy to discuss and support other sample types where possible. We also welcome collaborative discussions with other institutes and universities and are open to working with external companies that require access to our facilities and expertise.

Can you give us some examples of recent papers that were published with your assistance?

Ding, J., Fahy, B., Matsushima, R., Jiang, Q. and Seung, D. (2026), Starch Synthase 3 isoforms are essential for normal starch granule initiation in wheat endosperm. New Phytol., 250, 1075-1091. DOI: 10.1111/nph.70973

Liu, Q., Neefjes, A.C.M., Singh, A., Kobylinska, R., Mugford, S.T., Marzo, M., Canham, J., Schuster, M., van der Hoorn, R.A.L., Chen, Y., Hogenhout, S.A. (2025), Aphid effectors suppress plant immunity via recruiting defense proteins to processing bodies. Sci. Adv.,11, eadv1447. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adv1447

Saunders, K., Shah, S.N., Peyret, H., Meshcheriakova, Y., Richardson, J., Eltschkner, S., Lawson, D.M., Lomonossoff, G.P. (2025), The Specificity of RNA Packaging in Isometric RNA Plant Viruses is Principally Determined by Replication. J. Mol. Biol., 437(22), 169352. DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2025.169352

Atkinson, N., Stringer, R., Mitchell, S.R., Seung, D., McCormick, A.J. (2024), SAGA1 and SAGA2 promote starch formation around proto-pyrenoids in Arabidopsis chloroplasts. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 121(4), e2311013121. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2311013121

How should users acknowledge the facility and why is it important?

The 16 Technology Platforms at the John Innes Centre deliver scientific excellence through world leading equipment and highly skilled experts who provide essential support to research.

It is important that users properly acknowledge this contribution so that platform staff feel valued and recognised for their expertise and hard work. Contributions should be recognised on research outputs through appropriate acknowledgement or authorship, in line with the John Innes Centre’s clear guidelines, which set out expectations based on the level of input provided.

We are grateful to the John Innes Centre for its strong support of the Technology Platforms and their staff, including dedicated Technology Platform Committee meetings and close collaboration between Group Leaders and platform teams throughout all stages of research.

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