Embedding Thin Plant Specimens for Oriented Sectioning

Small plant structures such as small primary roots, filamentous mosses and algae are difficult to orient for sectioning since they become wavy and curl during embedding. A method is described for embedding and orienting tiny plant specimens in a glycol methacrylate resin using self-constructed flat molds. Prior to sectioning, small samples can be oriented in both the longitudinal and the transverse plane. As several samples can be sectioned simultaneously, time-consuming trimming of the blocks is reduced substantially. The efficiency of this technique has been demonstrated using the tiny roots of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.     

Capsules for Frozen Sectioning of Small Specimens

It was necessary to make sections of small unfixed specimens which had been frozen while still immersed in their normal culture medium. The principal difficulty stemmed from the poor sectioning quality of the frozen culture medium. A capsule is described which has a narrow well in which the tissue specimen fits snugly within a small amount of culture medium. After freezing, the whole capsule is sectioned and the resulting sections, being nearly devoid of culture medium, are of good quality.     

A New Technique Facilitating Studies of Scant Cell Specimens

A simple method is described by which multiple cytological and cytochemical studies can be done on a clinical sample that contains relatively few cells. The cells are concentrated by centrifugation. The cell pellet is fixed, frozen and embedded in plastic. Thin (2-μm) sections are cut from the plastic. Thus, each cell may appear in several sections and many slides can be made from a single specimen. The advantages of this method over cytospins and Millipore filter preparations of cell suspensions are optimal utilization of all cells, excellent morphological and immunological preservation and ease and reproducibility of this technique.     

A New Technique Facilitating Studies of Scant Cell Specimens

A simple method is described by which multiple cytological and cytochemical studies can be done on a clinical sample that contains relatively few cells. The cells are concentrated by centrifugation. The cell pellet is fixed, frozen and embedded in plastic. Thin (2-μm) sections are cut from the plastic. Thus, each cell may appear in several sections and many slides can be made from a single specimen. The advantages of this method over cytospins and Millipore filter preparations of cell suspensions are optimal utilization of all cells, excellent morphological and immunological preservation and ease and reproducibility of this technique.     

Cryosectioning of biofilms for microscopic examination

A method for rapid and minimally disruptive embedding and sectioning of bacterial biofilms has been developed and applied to binary population biofilms of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown on stainless steel surfaces in continuous flow annular reactors. Biofilms were cryoembedded using a commercial tissue embedding medium. Frozen embedded biofilms could be removed easily from the substratum by gently flexing the steel coupon. Microscopic examination of the substratum surface after biofilm removal indicated that less than a monolayer of attached cells remained. Five μm thick frozen sections were cut with a cryostat and examined by light or fluorescence microscopy. The cryoembedding technique preserved biofilm structural features including an irregular surface, water channels, local protrusions up to 500 μm thick, and a well‐defined substratum interface. The method requires minimal sample processing without dehydration or prolonged fixation, and can be completed in less than 24 h.     

A Mordanting Fixation for Intense Staining of Small Chromosomes

A combination iron-mordant fixative in which propionic acid is substituted for acetic acid has been found useful in preparing small plant chromosomes for carmine stained squashes. Propionic acid is better than acetic acid because it holds more iron in stable solution. The fixative is a 3:1 mixture of 95% alcohol and pure propionic acid which contains 400 mg. of Fe(OH)₃ per 100 ml. of propionic acid. The latter is previously prepared by dissolving the dry freshly prepared Fe(OH)₃ in it. To each 10 ml. vial of fixative is added a few drops of carmine stain. Standard aceto-carmine squashes of material fixed in this mixture show quick intense staining and are especially useful for differentiated chromosomes at mitotic prophase.     

霉菌总数测定培养基的改进研究

在霉菌检测国标法GB4789.15-94中所采用的孟加拉红培养基的基础上,添加不同浓度的葡萄糖、胰蛋白胨、酵母膏等营养物和表面活性荆吐温80,分别对黑曲霉、青霉菌液和不同种类的食品进行霉菌总数测定,经大量对比试验已优选出A4培养基,即在孟加拉红培养基中,添加0。15％的吐温80和1.0％的葡萄糖的培养基。试验结果表明,A4培养基对霉菌检出率较国标孟加拉红培养基的检出率提高了57.9％,且茵落更清晰易数。     

Cryosectioning Method for Microdissection of Murine Colonic Mucosa

The colonic mucosal tissue provides a vital barrier to luminal antigens. This barrier is composed of a monolayer of simple columnar epithelial cells. The colonic epithelium is dynamically turned over and epithelial cells are generated in the stem cell containing crypts of Lieberkühn. Progenitor cells produced in the crypt-bases migrate toward the luminal surface, undergoing a process of cellular differentiation before being shed into the gut lumen. In order to study these processes at the molecular level, we have developed a simple method for the microdissection of two spatially distinct regions of the colonic mucosa; the proliferative crypt zone, and the differentiated surface epithelial cells. Our objective is to isolate specific crypt and surface epithelial cell populations from mouse colonic mucosa for the isolation of RNA and protein.     

一种中小型哺乳动物标本整体塑化制作方法

此方法在改变传统哺乳动物标本制作方法上进行了一些新的尝试与改进,形成了一种小型哺乳动物标本的制作方法.该方法使用无毒的聚乙二醇替代传统的保存药品,可制作哺乳动物的整体标本,并能长期保持其原有形态,所制标本不仅可作为教学、科研材料之用外,由于其无毒处理,还可用于家居装饰.     

Imaging Enzymes at Work: Metabolic Mapping by Enzyme Histochemistry

For the understanding of functions of proteins in biological and pathological processes, reporter molecules such as fluorescent proteins have become indispensable tools for visualizing the location of these proteins in intact animals, tissues, and cells. For enzymes, imaging their activity also provides information on their function or functions, which does not necessarily correlate with their location. Metabolic mapping enables imaging of activity of enzymes. The enzyme under study forms a reaction product that is fluorescent or colored by conversion of either a fluorogenic or chromogenic substrate or a fluorescent substrate with different spectral characteristics. Most chromogenic staining methods were developed in the latter half of the twentieth century but still find new applications in modern cell biology and pathology. Fluorescence methods have rapidly evolved during the last decade. This review critically evaluates the methods that are available at present for metabolic mapping in living animals, unfixed cryostat sections of tissues, and living cells, and refers to protocols of the methods of choice. (J Histochem Cytochem 58:481–497, 2010)     

谷氨酰胺合成酶产生菌的固定化研究

谷氨酰胺合成酶产生菌的固定化在酶法合成谷氨酰胺中的应用具有重要意义。实验首先从味精废水中筛选出谷氨酰胺合成酶高产菌株LNU018,然后分别用海藻酸钠、聚乙烯醇(PVA)为载体对谷氨酰胺合成酶高产菌棒杆菌进行固定化。探讨了固定化条件对固定化小球结构、机械强度、弹性、稳定性和培养后菌体的谷氨酰胺合成酶的活性情况的影响,分析确定最佳的固定化条件。研究结果表明,5%的海藻酸钠、11%的聚乙烯醇形成的固定化菌球大小合适,有弹性,但5%的海藻酸钠能更好的保持酶活性,比11%聚乙烯醇高16%,其为最佳的固定化条件。