Fern Thin Section

V-2A Longpass Emission (Medium Bandwidth Excitation) Violet Set

Autofluorescence emission intensity from a thin section of fern (Selanginella drausiana) tissue. Endogenous autofluorescence in plant tissues arises from a variety of biomolecules, including chlorophyll, carotene, and xanthophyll. In the violet region, chlorophyll has an absorption band with a high extinction coefficient and produces a significant amount of fluorescence when excited with wavelengths between 390 and 420 nanometers. Note the presence of autofluorescence emission in the green and red spectral regions, which is strongly reminiscent of a darkfield image.