I have visualized the alteration of the cell wall during drought stress with the confocal microscope. Now, I want to measure the cell size at different time points. Is there anyone who knows how many cells I should measure?
I have studied Arabidopsis at 7 time points (days 0,1,2,4,7,15)
Hi,
what I usually do is to choose a magnification and also a specific area of the tissue. Les's say you are looking at roots. Always use same magnification and always ensure to include scale bar in the pictures.
Then, you check where the apical meristem finishes in your root (cell division area) and you can count from there let's say 10 cells. You can measure the cell size between the maturation area (where root hairs start) and the cell 11 after the end of meristem. If you always take same magnification, you just take a picture and you can measure all the cells in the picture.
If it is too much, just select a smaller area in there and doit with these cells (don't forget the scale bar)
It is always good to doit with the cells that are close to maturation area, because at the beginning of elongation zone the still growing.
I think the number of replicates (in this example different roots) are much more important than number of cells. So, if you measure e.g. 30 cells per root and you have 10 replicates (10 different roots) your results should be representative!.
In case of other tissues will be the same, choose same area etc...
I hope this answer will help you.
Vanesa
The more cells you count, the strongest is the statistic. Try to do the best you can :-) For example, in my last papers, I analyzed from 10-12 biological samples per treatment and day, and around 30-40 pictures per sample, and I counted/measured all cells inside each picture. I must say that I am a hard-working animal, try to do the best you can and you will be successful.
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Hope this will be useful for you and others.
Dear @Maryam Zekri The number and size of samples matter the most. Taking large size and more number of samples will greatly reduce "bias" from statistics applied. Moreover, I do agree with the suggestions given by @J.D. Franco-Navarro.
Best wishes, AKC
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