X-ray nano-imaging of the parasite T. gondii: Developing optimised sample preparation and handling for high resolution and high throughput c

High resolution multi-modal X-ray imaging, combining X-ray phase contrast and X-ray fluorescence nano-tomography, is now instrumental to target regions of interest in large organisms or complex samples (CLXEM - CXEM). Cellular electron tomography has shown the importance of studying biological processes directly within the cellular context compared to in vitro purified complexes. However, for eukaryotic organisms the application of this technique is almost entirely confined to isolated cell lines grown on the EM support grid. To overcome this technical limitation, the development of new correlative and integrated imaging approaches aims at studying cellular ultrastructure and sub-cellular molecular processes directly within native multicellular environments. This proposal aims to develop high-throughput sample preparation workflows with a multi-technique sample support to bring breakthrough results in infection biology and new services to ESRF users