Coffee-ring effect enables correlative super-resolution imaging of label-free chromosomes

Abstract

High-resolution chromosome imaging plays a key role in understanding chromosome structure. However, traditional methods for super-resolution (<200 nm) chromosome imaging are often complex and time-consuming, requiring purification, staining or sectioning of chromosomes. Here, we propose a novel and simple method to achieve correlative super-resolution imaging for label-free chromosomes through the utilization of the coffee-ring effect. An application of this method is shown to identify dicentric chromosomes and acentric fragments.