I would like to preserve my soil samples (about 30g of soil per sample) and analyze them later (in a few months). Would anyone have any particular recommendation?
I have already air dried them and put then in a fridge at 4ºC, but i am thinking about using silica gel. Would anyone know of a protocol to preserve soil samples with silica gel?
Thank you,
Katherine
Dear Lavoie
As dear Akhtar said what you have done is Ok, but storing in the 4ºC in the alcholoic condition is recommended.
Best Regards
Hi,
4ºC will definitely ensure minimal biological activity. You need to do little extra to minimize degradation.
You should keep them dry in a desiccator with silica gel (in a compartment within the desiccator). You should evacuate and keep the entire assembly inside a fridge. Evacuated desiccator should minimize degradation due to oxidation of organics; a major concern.
Good luck.
Prosenjit
Dear Lavoie,
Nothing is problematic with what you have already done.
I recommend you to store the roots in 70 % alcohol after fixation in formalin aceto-alcohol (FAA) for root length measurement. For spore extraction, preservation at 4-8ºC is advisable.
Kind regards.
Dear Lavoie
As dear Akhtar said what you have done is Ok, but storing in the 4ºC in the alcholoic condition is recommended.
Best Regards
We ran into a similar problem with storing palynological samples for later analysis but I think it applies here. 1st I would store the samples in paper bags, not plastic and not sealed. It is important to let the samples breathe. Since you are looking at the microbial communities, I suspect you do not want additional fungal growth to occur. We found that simply spraying the sample with wood alcohol (up to 100%) before drying worked well. What you are doing know seems reasonable with using both alcohol and cold. I did not use freezing due to projected adverse affects potentially at the cellular level, by freezing techniques. I was interested in pollen extraction at the time but if freezing has not been shown to adversely affect your fingal specimens, I would be comfortable using either procedure.
Ur concerned to keep the sample for later period is to analyse microbial community. In this case, u must keep ur samples in deep freezer..
Dear Katherine,
I completely agree with Akhtar's suggestions. But, particularly in case of AMF spore I would simply add that you should complete the analysis as soon as possible for better results rather storing them for long.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Botany