These stunning photos celebrate the intricacy of the microscopic world

A snapshot of a delicate web of tumour cells inside a mouse’s brain has clinched the top prize in this year’s Nikon Small World photography competition, which celebrates microscopy.

Tightly packed, upright strands of a protein known as actin border each cell, which contain green jumbles of tiny tubes, called microtubules, that surround a violet nucleus.

Bruno Cisterna Irrazabal at Augusta University in Georgia, who took the photo, is exploring whether the breakdown of the structures around nuclei could influence the development of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“One of the main problems with neurodegenerative diseases is that we don’t fully understand what causes them,” he said in a statement. “To develop effective treatments, we need to figure out the basics first.”

Maroon-coloured fruiting bodies of slime moulds, belonging to the species Cribraria cancellata, glisten in another entry, taken by Henri Koskinen at the University of Helsinki in Finland. A dainty net of thick threads, known as a peridium, encloses a clump of spores.

Photographer Gerhard Vlcek captured this vibrant cross-section of European beachgrass (Ammophila arenaria), taken from the Austrian city of Maria Enzersdorf. The turquoise tubes adjacent to the plant’s orange tissue are vascular bundles made up of xylem and phloem, which carry water and food.

The azure flecks on the end of this syringe needle are miniature scales from the wings of a Ulysses butterfly (Papilio ulysses). Each scale can be as small as 30 micrometres in length. The astonishing shot was taken by photographer Daniel Knop in Germany.

Paweł Błachowicz in Poland got up close and personal with a green crab spider (Diaea dorsata) to capture this intimate photo of its eight eyes. This species is no more than 6 millimetres across.

This wonderfully neon image of two translucent water fleas (Daphnia sp.) was taken by Marek Miś in Poland. The one on the left is filled with embryos, while its companion is replete with eggs.

Vascular bundles form an expressive smile in this cross-section of a common bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) stem, taken by David Maitland in the UK.