Hi All,
I just finished a botany lab where I tried to get the students to
perform mitotic squashes. In short, the exercise was a dismal
failure. I used Allium and Zea tissue that had been fixed in EtOH and
Acetic Acid, and then moved through a series of 95%, 80%, and 70%
EtOH. I used aceto-carmine as the stain. Nuclei stained fine,
although a little dense, but there were no mitotic figures to be seen.
The intent of the lab was to section the root tips into mm long
sections from the tip back, squash each section, and determine the
number of mitotic figures per section. This exercise was supposed to
localize the area of the R.A.M. where mitotic activity was highest. I
would like to perform this lab in the future, and I was wondering if
anyone had a more "bulletproof" protocol. Incidentally, I am not wed
to a particular tissue or stain.
Cheers
Allan
--
Allan E. Strand stranda at cofc.edu, http://linum.cofc.edu
Department of Biology Phone: (843) 953-8085
College of Charleston Fax: (843) 953-5453
Charleston, SC 29424
