Attempted use of a haemocytometer to count centric diatom cells (~40-50 microns diameter) resulted in diatoms becoming "stuck" at the point where the sample was loaded onto the slide. Therefore cell dispersal was not even across the slide, making it unuseable for accurate cell counts.
I potentially think this is due to the large cell size of the diatoms, but I would welcome any other possible explanations, and more importantly, a solution!
Hi Toby!
Are you sure the haemocytometer was absolutely sparkling clean (as in soaked in soapy water, then dest water, then wiped with kimwipe/ethanol clean)? even the smallest particles can meddle with capillary action and result in uneven distributions. or your critters just too large, as you say.
I was cleaning the slide and cover slip thoroughly with ethanol between samples, using a kim wipe, but I hadn't considered that it may need a more thorough clean! Thanks Elisa.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Immunology
- Antibodies