biofilm evaluation

[Bob McLean]

Dear Dr. Brelles-Mariño,


Storage in the refrigerator (4 C) should be fine.  If the sample is to be
examined by SEM, I would recommend storage with 2% (v/v) glutaraldehyde for
preservation. If you are planning on doing analytical EM (i.e. elemental
analysis by EDX), then I would recommend using 0.1 M HEPES, pH 7.2 as a
buffer.  Otherwise use 0.1 M cacodylate, pH 7.2  Although prompt specimen
examination is ideal, we have stored samples for up to six weeks in this
fashion.


Good luck,


Bob McLean


At 12:32 PM 3/27/00 +0100, you wrote:
 >
 >Dear colleagues,
 >
 >
 >Thank you for all the suggestions regarding biofilm evaluation. We are
going to
 >try scanning electron microscopy to evaluate biofilm formation on clay-like
 >material.
 >
 >
 >As we don´t really know whether our bacteria produce biofilms and, if it
is the
 >case, which are the best conditions and how long it would take to have a
mature
 >biofilm, we are going to take several samples at different times. Our
question
 >is if we can take a small piece of the clay-like material, put it into an
 >eppendorf and keep it in the refrigerator until we take the next sample.
Would
 >the biofilm be perturbed (dehydrated? dessicated?) during the refrigeration?
 >
 >
 >Thank you for your answers,
 >
 >
 >Dr. Graciela Brelles-Mariño
 >Dept. of Soil Microbiology and Symbiotic Systems
 >Estacion Experimental del Zaidin
 >Granada, Spain.
 >
 >
 >
 >
 >---
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 >
 >
 >
___________________________________________________________________________
R.J.C. (Bob) McLean, Ph.D.
Dept. Biology
Southwest Texas State University
601 University Drive
San Marcos, Tx 78666
USA
(512)245-3365 phone
(512)245-8713 FAX
Email:  RM12 at swt.edu
http://www.bio.swt.edu/micro/mclean/mclean.html
---

-------------------------------------------------------------------
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