I want to check the methnaogenic population dynamics in soil by using fluorescent in situ hybridization, but still i don,t know how to select the microscopy technique which may be both efficient and with low cast.
Thanks
Muhammad,
The least complicated and least expensive system would be using a fluorescence microscope. However if your need thin optical z- slice (0.5 um) you should use a confocal microscope. Both have the same resolution in the x-y axis. Also the illumination will be different. An optical microscope will use a mercury (or halogen) bulb, while a confocal usually uses lasers. The filter sets may also be different, so check your fluorophore for excitation and emission spectra. The sample preparation is essentially the same.
Good luck,
Michael Delannoy
Hi Muhammad,
Regarding your goal I strongly recommend epifluorescence microscopy. CLSM can be tricky to use together with FISH in soil samples. Furthermore, it will probably not be necessary for you to obtain z-stacks.
Hanne schmidt! please can you send me the detail FISH procedure starting from soil sample preparation, i am facing some dificulties in establishing this kind of work?
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