Choanoflagellates - Scanning Electron Microscope image

Images made through a microscope. All subject types.

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Ecki
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Choanoflagellates - Scanning Electron Microscope image

Post by Ecki »

Image

This is a Scanning Electron Microscope image of a group of choanoflagellates. It is interesting to see how they attach to the surface. View them with respect as they are among all protists our closest relatives :shock:

Fixed in glutaraldehyde for 45 minutes, then OsO4 for 45 minutes. The rest of the procedure is described here: http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=19666

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Ecki

curt0909
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Re: Choanoflagellates - Scanning Electron Microscope image

Post by curt0909 »

Ecki wrote:View them with respect as they are among all protists our closest relatives :shock:
I can see the resemblance. :lol: They're interesting looking things. What's the scale of this photo?

Olympusman
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Glutaraldehyde

Post by Olympusman »

What is the dilution you are using for glutaraldehyde? My experience has been that it shrinks or puckers most protists and is only effective for copepods, daphnia and rotifers without deforming the subject.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

Planapo
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Re: Choanoflagellates - Scanning Electron Microscope image

Post by Planapo »

Nice! What's the surface they are attached to?
Is that SEM located at FU, HU, TU, some other institution, or do we have reason to turn green with envy :wink: :wink: :D as it's your personal toy?
Ecki wrote:View them with respect as they are among all protists our closest relatives :shock:
Likewise, we shouldn't forget the fact that we share 50% of our DNA sequences with the banana. :shock: :lol:

--Betty
Atticus Finch: "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view
- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
Lee, N. H. 1960. To Kill a Mockingbird. J. B. Lippincott, New York.

RogelioMoreno
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Post by RogelioMoreno »

Very nice!

Rogelio

Jacek
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Post by Jacek »

awesome

Ecki
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Post by Ecki »

Thank you all for your kind comments.
Olympusman wrote:What is the dilution you are using for glutaraldehyde?
You need to use the lowest glutaraldehyde concentration possible. I normally work with 2% - 4%. In this case the fixation solution was 2,5% glutaraldehyde in cacodylate buffer (ph 7.2). The osmium tetroxide was 2% in aqua dest and was intended to harden the membranes.
Curt wrote:What's the scale of this photo?
This is a crop of the original 4000x magnification image. The crop spans 45 µm from left to right.
Betty wrote:Nice! What's the surface they are attached to? Is that SEM located at FU, HU, TU, some other institution, or do we have reason to turn green with envy as it's your personal toy?
The surface is a cover slip. This image was made with the SEM at the Freie Universität Berlin across the street from the botanical garden. You better prepare your family for the green colored Betty - I plan to get my own one in September.

Regards,
Ecki

Olympusman
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Glutaraldehyde

Post by Olympusman »

I wikid cacodylate and its pretty serious stuff. I imagine you are using a prepared buffered buffered solution of glutaraldehyde.
Cacodylate was used in the herbicide Agent Blue in Vietnam. Even exposed to the odor can turn your tongue black.
I have a quart of commercial glutaraldehyde used for sterilizing instruments. I may try buffering with Sodium bicarbonate, which was suggested to me by a marine biologist in California some time ago.
Michael Reese Much FRMS EMS Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

Ecki
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Post by Ecki »

The chemicals necessary for electron microscopy should of course only be handled in a proper equipped lab. Most of them are pretty dangerous.

arturoag75
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Post by arturoag75 »

:shock: :shock: :shock:

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