Hello there!
I am trying to prepare Symbiodinium cultures for microscopy (fluorescence microscopy and potentially confocal). I don't know if i have to fixing my cells in glycolaldehyde (GA) or if i have to fix at all, because I'm trying to capture the chlorophyll fluorescence from my sample, and if I fix it maybe it will die and not be fluorescence anymore.
Could someone help me?
Thank you very much
Dear Monalisa Bettim ,
It is important to consider both the preservation of the cells' morphological and physiological features and the preservation of fluorescence in your cells.
Fixation in glycolaldehyde (GA) is a commonly used method to preserve the morphological features of cells in microscopy, as it crosslinks proteins and stabilizes cellular structures. However, fixation can also affect fluorescence signals and quench chlorophyll fluorescence.
In general, it is recommended to avoid fixation when studying fluorescence microscopy of chlorophyll, as it can interfere with the fluorescence signal. In cases where fixation is necessary, it is recommended to use a gentle fixative such as paraformaldehyde or methanol, which have been shown to have minimal effects on fluorescence signals.
Additionally, it may be helpful to perform control experiments to determine the effect of fixation on your particular Symbiodinium cultures, as different species and strains of Symbiodinium may respond differently to fixation.
Finally, I'd suggest to look for previous discussions on similar topics.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Electrodes