28.06.2015 Views

October 2012 - MicrobeHunter.com

October 2012 - MicrobeHunter.com

October 2012 - MicrobeHunter.com

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Microbe<br />

Hunter<br />

Microscopy Magazine<br />

ISSN 2220-4962 (Print)<br />

ISSN 2220-4970 (Online)<br />

Volume 2, Number 10<br />

<strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />

The Magazine for the<br />

Enthusiast Microscopist<br />

http://www.microbehunter.<strong>com</strong><br />

Focus Stacking with<br />

Video Frames<br />

Gram Staining<br />

Testing an<br />

Educational<br />

Microscope<br />

Plant Leaves<br />

Staurodesmus tumidus<br />

Focus Stacking Plant Leaves Desmids<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 1


ABOUT<br />

Microbehunter Microscopy Magazine<br />

The magazine for the enthusiast microscopist<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Magazine is a non-<strong>com</strong>mercial project.<br />

Volume 2, Number 10, <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />

ISSN 2220-4962 (Print)<br />

ISSN 2220-4970 (Online)<br />

Download: Microbehunter Microscopy Magazine can be downloaded<br />

at: http://www.microbehunter.<strong>com</strong><br />

Print version: The printed version can be ordered at:<br />

http://microbehunter.magcloud.<strong>com</strong><br />

Publisher and editor:<br />

Oliver Kim, Ziegeleistr. 10-3, A-4490 St.Florian, Austria<br />

Email: editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong><br />

Web: http://www.microbehunter.<strong>com</strong><br />

Tel.: +43 680 2115051<br />

Images and Articles by:<br />

ANNOUNCEMENT<br />

Visit the Forum!<br />

It is now possible to discuss the individual articles<br />

of the magazine. Every issue has a separate subforum<br />

for discussion.<br />

www.microbehunter.<strong>com</strong>/forum<br />

Facebook<br />

Do you have any microscopy links to share?<br />

Do it here on facebook:<br />

www.facebook.<strong>com</strong>/microbehunter<br />

Oliver Kim, Luca Monzo, R. Nassar, Mike Guwak.<br />

Copyright: By submitting articles and pictures, the authors<br />

have confirmed that they are the full copyright owners of the material,<br />

unless specified otherwise. Authors are ersponsible for<br />

obtaining permission for copyrighted work that they do not own.<br />

Creative <strong>com</strong>mons and public domain images are indicated with<br />

a small text next to the image or in the caption. The copyright of<br />

all other images is with the author of the article (unless specified).<br />

You are not allowed to distribute this magazine by email,<br />

file sharing sites, web sites or by any other means. If you want to<br />

have a copy of this magazine, either order one from Magcloud<br />

(see link above) or vistit www.microbehunter.<strong>com</strong>.<br />

Editorial: Article and image submissions are wel<strong>com</strong>e and<br />

should be sent to: editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong>.<br />

For submission guidelines, consult the website at:<br />

http://www.microbehunter.<strong>com</strong>/submission<br />

Disclaimer: Articles that are published in Microbehunter Microscopy<br />

Magazine and the blog do not necessarily reflect the position<br />

or opinion of the publisher. The publication of these articles<br />

does not constitute an endorsement of views they may express.<br />

Advice provided in Microbehunter Microscopy Magazine is provided<br />

as a service and neither the authors nor the publisher can<br />

be held liable and responsible for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies,<br />

or for any consequences (health, hardware, etc.) arising<br />

from the use of information of this magazine and the blog (or<br />

anything else). Conduct all lab work and (microscopy) hardware<br />

modifications at your own risk and always follow the instructions<br />

of the manufacturers.<br />

Front Cover:<br />

Large image: Oliver Kim<br />

Left image: R. Nassar<br />

Middle image: Oliver Kim<br />

Right image: Mike Guwak<br />

CONTRIBUTE!<br />

Write for Microbehunter!<br />

Please contribute both articles and pictures. Share your experiences,<br />

problems and microscopic adventures. If you are a<br />

researcher using microscopes, tell the readers what your research<br />

is about. Please contribute, even if you consider yourself<br />

inexperienced. If you are a struggling beginner, tell us<br />

something about the problems that you encountered. If you<br />

are an active enthusiast microscopist then share your projects,<br />

experiences and observations. Are you a teacher or lecturer?<br />

Share your microscopic experiences from school or<br />

university. This magazine is made by an enthusiast microscopist<br />

for other enthusiasts. Let‘s work together to make this<br />

project a successful one.<br />

Please send all contributions to:<br />

editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong><br />

You must own the copyright of the contributions and you retain<br />

the copyright of all submitted articles and pictures. While<br />

we are not able to pay you for your efforts, we will, of course,<br />

give you full credit for your contributions.<br />

Guest Bloggers! Yes, guest blogging is also a possibility.<br />

Write microscopy-related blog posts, send them to me and I<br />

will publish them on the web site. Naturally, I’ll put a link to<br />

your blog. Condition: it must be original content and you must<br />

be the copyright holder of the text (obviously). When submitting<br />

articles, please indicate if you want to have them published<br />

on the blog or in the magazine (or both).<br />

Before submitting anything, please read the submissions<br />

page on the website: www.microbehunter.<strong>com</strong>/submissions.<br />

2 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


CONTENTS<br />

4 Focus Stacking with Video Frames<br />

A method for obtaining a rapid focus stack from a<br />

slowly moving amoeba under the microscope.<br />

R. Nassar<br />

4<br />

6 Some Thoughts on Gram Staining<br />

Gram staining is a quite powerful staining technique,<br />

but requires careful standardization of the bacterial<br />

culture.<br />

Oliver Kim<br />

8 Testing a Low-cost Educational Microscope<br />

Yes, there are some low-cost microscopes around,<br />

which do perform.<br />

Oliver Kim<br />

8<br />

12 Observing Plant Leaves<br />

Clear nail polish can be used to make impressions of<br />

plant leaves.<br />

Oliver Kim<br />

17 Staurodesmus tumidus<br />

Mike Guwak<br />

19 Gallery<br />

Images by Luca Monzo<br />

12<br />

17<br />

22<br />

Answer to the puzzle (back cover):<br />

Plant leaf<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 3


Technique<br />

Focus Stacking<br />

A method for obtaining a rapid focus stack from a slowly moving amoeba<br />

under the microscope.<br />

R. Nassar<br />

In astronomy, image stacking is used<br />

to make faint stars visible by adding<br />

(or averaging) several images in<br />

order to increase signal-to-noise ratio<br />

[1]. In macro photography and photomicrography,<br />

depth of field is extremely<br />

limited, and image stacking is used to<br />

<strong>com</strong>bine several images (in the form of<br />

a focus stack) that are focused on the<br />

subject at different depths in order to get<br />

the whole subject in focus.<br />

A stack of still images can be used<br />

when the subject is stationary. For a<br />

slowly moving subject, video stacking<br />

has been used where frames from a<br />

video clip are extracted and the resulting<br />

images are stacked [2,3,4,5].<br />

1<br />

I wanted to get images of an amoeba<br />

for a focus stack. But even an amoeba's<br />

very slow movement was too fast for a<br />

stack of still images: recording one image,<br />

then refocusing the microscope by<br />

a few micrometers and repeating the<br />

procedure took too long. In this case I<br />

used a video stack by focusing the microscope<br />

sufficiently quickly while recording<br />

a video clip. I set the<br />

microscope focus well below the bottom<br />

of the amoeba and, using the coarse<br />

focus knob, focused rapidly well beyond<br />

the top. This ensured that the<br />

zones of acceleration and deceleration<br />

of the microscope stage occurred outside<br />

the range of focus of interest and<br />

that the focusing speed was nearly constant<br />

when any parts of the amoeba<br />

were in focus, thus ensuring approximately<br />

equally spaced planes of focus<br />

of the successive video frames. I then<br />

picked several successive frames (in<br />

this case 8) that spanned the depth of the<br />

amoeba and stacked them using CombineZP.<br />

At the video rate of 30 frames/s,<br />

the 8 frames would have been recorded<br />

in about 1/3 second, fast enough for a<br />

slow-moving amoeba. A slightly slower<br />

movement of the stage during focusing<br />

would have allowed me to obtain<br />

more images for the stack at smaller<br />

Figure 1: The resulting stack is<br />

shown below.<br />

4 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Focus Stacking<br />

Technique<br />

2<br />

6<br />

3<br />

7<br />

4<br />

8<br />

5<br />

9<br />

Figure 2-9: The individual video frames used to make the stack.<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 5


Technique<br />

Gram Staining<br />

distance increments, but would have<br />

taken longer and risked more movement<br />

of the amoeba between the individual<br />

images and possible difficulty in obtaining<br />

a good stack. If you try this method,<br />

please make sure that you are focusing<br />

in a direction of increasing the distance<br />

between the objective and the slide in<br />

order to avoid colliding them together<br />

accidentally and possibly causing severe<br />

damage to the objective. The eight<br />

video frames <strong>com</strong>prising the stack are<br />

shown in figures 2-9.<br />

■<br />

References<br />

1. Wikipedia. "Speckle imaging". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speckle_imaging.<br />

2. Walker, D. Video microscopy trials with the USB Live View output of a DLSR camera. Micscape<br />

Magazine, June 2008.<br />

3. Cypionka, H. Videostacking.<br />

http://www.mikroskopie.de/mikforum/read.php?2,48956,48956#msg-48956, July 26, 2008.<br />

4. Cypionka, H. Videostacking.<br />

http://www.mikroskopie-forum.de/index.php?topic=9190.0<br />

May 18, 2011.<br />

5. Krebs, C. Netzelia, testate amoeba, ingesting alga.<br />

http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15584<br />

January 01, <strong>2012</strong>.<br />

Gram staining is a quite powerful staining technique, but requires careful standardization<br />

of the bacterial culture.<br />

Oliver Kim<br />

Gram staining is one of the most<br />

well-known staining procedures<br />

for bacteria. It was discovered<br />

by the Danish scientist Hans<br />

Christian Gram (1850–1938). Gram accidentally<br />

discovered this staining procedure<br />

while he was working with Carl<br />

Fiedländer (who discovered the bacterial<br />

cause of pneumonia in 1882).<br />

Gram staining allows for the differentiation<br />

of bacteria in to Gram positive<br />

and Gram negative bacteria. The Gram<br />

positive bacteria stain dark blue or purple,<br />

while the Gram negative bacteria<br />

display a red color. The staining properties<br />

are due to the properties of the cell<br />

wall. Gram positive bacteria have a<br />

thick cell wall, which is able to retain<br />

the blue-black color <strong>com</strong>plexes inside<br />

the cell. The Gram negative bacteria<br />

have a much thinner cell wall, which<br />

allows the <strong>com</strong>plexes to be washed out<br />

by alcohol. For this reason, the Gram<br />

stain was for many years a central technique<br />

in bacterial identification. While<br />

molecular techniques have largely taken<br />

over the identification process, Gram<br />

staining remains a popular technique for<br />

microbiological education.<br />

In his 1884 publication, Gram described<br />

the method as a means to selectively<br />

stain pneumonia bacteria of lung<br />

tissue sections. The surrounding lung<br />

tissue was not stained, making the bacteria<br />

much easier to locate. In his publication<br />

from 1884, he states the<br />

advantage of this staining procedure:<br />

“In my procedure the nucleus and other<br />

tissue elements remain unstained, while<br />

the cocci are strongly stained. This makes<br />

them much easier to locate than previously,<br />

since in ordinary preparations from<br />

pneumonia patients, where such a large<br />

amount of exudate occurs, they are impossible<br />

to see.”<br />

Figure 1: Gram stain of Staphylococcus<br />

aureus (Gram positive cocci),<br />

staining blue-purple and Escherichia<br />

coli (Gram negative bacilli), staining<br />

red from the safranin counter-stain.<br />

Image credit: Creative Commons by Y tambe.<br />

6 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Gram Staining<br />

Technique<br />

The procedure<br />

The bacteria are taken either from a<br />

liquid culture or agar medium. Christian<br />

Gram took the samples directly from<br />

lung tissue. The bacteria are then<br />

smeared on a microscope slide, airdried<br />

and heat-fixed. For heat-fixing,<br />

the slide is pulled 2 times through the<br />

flame of a Bunsen burner, with the sample<br />

pointing away from the flame. This<br />

process "bakes" the bacteria to the glass<br />

slide and prevents them from being<br />

washed away during the staining process.<br />

The primary stain crystal violet is<br />

then applied to the fixed bacteria for 1-3<br />

minutes. Gram's iodine solution is then<br />

added. The iodine causes the formation<br />

of stained <strong>com</strong>plexes inside of the bacterial<br />

cells. The bacteria are then carefully<br />

rinsed with alcohol. The alcohol is<br />

able to dissolve these <strong>com</strong>plexes, but is<br />

only to wash out the dye in bacteria<br />

which have a thin cell wall (Gram negative).<br />

Cells with a thick cell wall retain<br />

the dye (Gram positive). Last, the cells<br />

are counter-stained with a deep red safranin<br />

dye to make the cells visible again,<br />

which have lost the color in the washing<br />

step.<br />

Gram negative bacteria have a thin<br />

cell wall between two membranes,<br />

while Gram positive species have a<br />

thick cell wall outside of a single cell<br />

membrane. The Gram positive bacteria<br />

represent a distinct line in the phylogenetic<br />

tree of life, which was established<br />

using genetic studies. The Gram staining<br />

procedure therefore differentiates<br />

the bacteria based on their phylogenetic<br />

relatedness.<br />

Personal experiences<br />

During my work in the microbiological<br />

laboratory, I have performed countless<br />

Gram stains, with varying success.<br />

I have discovered, that the reproducibility<br />

of the procedure depends much on<br />

the age of the culture. Some bacteria<br />

behave differently depending on whether<br />

the bacterial culture is still actively<br />

growing or stationary. Gram positive<br />

cells that are too old might appear as<br />

being Gram negative. I even remember<br />

one instance in which a pure culture of<br />

a bacterial species had cells which<br />

stained both Gram positive and Gram<br />

negative. Evidently some of the cells in<br />

the culture were already too old to retain<br />

the stain, while others were still young<br />

enough to stain as expected.<br />

Sometimes the optics of the microscope<br />

also <strong>com</strong>plicated the matter.<br />

Phase contrast optics generally made<br />

the cells appear darker and occasionally<br />

it was difficult to identify the true color<br />

of the cells. In bright-field systems,<br />

closing the condenser diaphragm too<br />

much also introduces refractive patterns<br />

around the cells, especially if the refractive<br />

index of the bacteria is very different<br />

from the surrounding medium. This<br />

too made the staining reaction difficult<br />

to see.<br />

Impatience is also a problem. It is<br />

not advisable to speed up the drying<br />

process of the bacterial suspension by<br />

heating the slide. This will cause the<br />

cells to burst and they will stain Gram<br />

negative because the blue–purple color<br />

<strong>com</strong>plex can then be washed out of the<br />

cells.<br />

Last, some bacterial strains are<br />

Gram-indeterminate. This means that<br />

they do not respond well to the staining<br />

procedure and can not be distinguished<br />

this way. With all of these uncertainties,<br />

it is not surprising that molecular methods,<br />

such as DNA analysis, have gained<br />

so much popularity in recent years.<br />

References<br />

Gram, C. 1884. Über die isolierte Färbung der<br />

Schizomyceten in Schnitt- und Trockenpraparaten.<br />

Fortschritte der Medicin, Vol. 2, pages<br />

185-189.<br />

English translation of the article:<br />

http://www.microbelibrary.org/images/stories/M<br />

L_2.0/1884p215.pdf<br />

■<br />

Figure 2: The Phylogenetic Tree of Life. Genetic studies have shown that the Gram positive bacteria (circled) form a distinct<br />

branch in the tree of life. The Gram staining procedure corresponds to the genetic results and is therefore useful for identification<br />

purposes. Image: Public Domain by Eric Gaba (based on a NASA image)<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 7


TESTING<br />

Comparing objectives<br />

Yes, there are some low-cost microscopes around, which do perform.<br />

Oliver Kim<br />

Here, right on my desk: A lowcost<br />

educational microscope<br />

(BMS 136 series) with four objectives<br />

(4x, 10x, 40x, 100x oil). Monocular,<br />

10x eyepiece. A single 0.5W<br />

LED (corresponding to 20W halogen),<br />

powered and with rechargeable batteries<br />

(2x AA). Equipped with a 1.25 NA<br />

condenser with an aperture diaphragm,<br />

pre-centered. Mechanical stage. Mostly<br />

metal construction. No Köhler illumination.<br />

Price: just over EUR 200. Mass:<br />

3544g. Variations of the microscope do<br />

exist, such as the inclusion of a halogen<br />

light instead of a LED, or binocular<br />

versions.<br />

The microscope was obtained for<br />

evaluation purposes to check it it proves<br />

1<br />

to be useful for classroom use. The<br />

ability for the microscope to be battery<br />

operated was considered as being critical,<br />

as electrical power supplies are not<br />

available for every desk in the classroom<br />

(the microscope had to be operated<br />

outside of a lab, in regular<br />

classrooms). All parts of the microscope<br />

were "student-proof". It was therefore<br />

not possible to remove the eyepieces<br />

and condenser without special tools. It<br />

was also not possible to detach the rotating<br />

tube (which carries the eyepiece) of<br />

the microscope. The only exception<br />

were the objectives. These were of the<br />

160mm DIN standard, could be unscrewed<br />

easily and and could therefore<br />

also be fitted on my more expensive<br />

Olympus CH40 microscope. I wanted<br />

to take advantage of this possibility and<br />

<strong>com</strong>pare the optics of the two instruments<br />

by fitting the objectives of the<br />

educational microscope on the Olympus.<br />

The Olympus objectives were achromatic<br />

bright-field objectives, the<br />

objectives of the educational microscope<br />

were of unknown correction (I<br />

suppose also achromatic).<br />

The CH40 was also equipped with a<br />

digital camera and associated reduction<br />

optics. I could therefore easily <strong>com</strong>pare<br />

the quality of the different optics. With<br />

the exception of the objectives, everything<br />

thus remained the same. The condenser<br />

aperture diaphragm was set to<br />

the value which corresponded to the<br />

value printed on the objective. Both, the<br />

Olympus objectives as well as the objectives<br />

of the educational microscope<br />

had the same numerical aperture (N.A.)<br />

values. I have also made s few afocal<br />

photographs through the eyepiece using<br />

a separate <strong>com</strong>pact camera in order to<br />

obtain the full field of view (figures<br />

4-6).<br />

Despite the relatively low price of<br />

the educational microscope, I was positively<br />

surprised that the objectives produced<br />

quite usable images. A quality<br />

difference was visible for sure, but not<br />

to the extent that I expected. The biggest<br />

problem was a blurriness towards<br />

the side of the field of view (figures<br />

Figure 1: The Olympus CH40 microscope<br />

(left) and a low-cost educational<br />

microscope on the right. Both<br />

microscopes use the 160mm DIN<br />

standard and therefore allow for an<br />

exchange of the objectives. The objectives<br />

of the educational microscope<br />

were mounted on the Olympus<br />

and the quality of the optics could<br />

thus be <strong>com</strong>pared.<br />

8 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Comparing objectives<br />

TESTING<br />

4-6). This effect is more disturbing<br />

when taking pictures, but not a big<br />

problem when only working visually.<br />

By operating the fine focus knob, one<br />

could also bring these areas into focus.<br />

Figure 6 shows a picture through the<br />

eyepiece of the educational microscope<br />

itself. There is much less blurriness.<br />

Probably the smaller field of view that<br />

the eyepiece produced eliminated the<br />

critical areas at the side.<br />

I also used the attached camera to<br />

take pictures through the trinocular<br />

head. This camera did not capture the<br />

full field, but rather a rectangular section<br />

from the center of the field of view.<br />

Therefore the blurry sides were eliminated<br />

from the picture. Some loss of<br />

quality is still visible in the <strong>com</strong>parison<br />

pictures, however (figures 2-3 and 6-9).<br />

The 4x objective resulted in the worst<br />

image quality at the sides, probably also<br />

because of its wide field of view.<br />

The short verdict<br />

If you are looking for a low-cost<br />

microscope, either for yourself or as a<br />

present for your children, then I would<br />

say that microscope that I tested can be<br />

seen as a good reference on what to<br />

expect from a EUR 200-250 microscope.<br />

The microscope is definitely not<br />

a toy and sufficiently solid to be taken<br />

seriously. The image quality of the objectives<br />

was generally <strong>com</strong>parable to<br />

those of my CH40 microscope, at least<br />

in the center of the field of view. People<br />

who want to start with the hobby of<br />

microscopy and who do not want to<br />

invest too much money might consider<br />

such a device. It is true that used microscopes<br />

from more well-known manufacturers<br />

(Zeiss, etc.) can also be<br />

obtained in this price range. These microscopes<br />

frequently can provide more<br />

value for the money and even a greater<br />

resale value. Used microscopes, however,<br />

do pose a certain risk for those people<br />

who do not know what to look out<br />

for.<br />

In recent years many large microscope<br />

manufacturers have moved away<br />

from the 160mm DIN standard (finite<br />

optics) for the objectives, in favor of the<br />

more modern infinity systems. One of<br />

the nice things about the traditional 160<br />

mm system is the ability to exchange<br />

the objectives between the microscopes.<br />

In contrast to infinity optics, the traditional<br />

DIN standard is manufacturer<br />

independent and there are plenty of<br />

cheaper second hand objectives available,<br />

should one or the other of them<br />

break (which is a possibility in educational<br />

settings).<br />

When buying low-cost microscopes<br />

the presence of standardized optics is<br />

probably one important indicator on<br />

whether the microscope fulfills minimum<br />

quality considerations. Many toy<br />

microscopes do not have standardized<br />

optics and may therefore be distin-<br />

Figures 2 and 3: 4x objective <strong>com</strong>parison.<br />

The left image is from the Olympus,<br />

the right image from the<br />

educational microscope. While the<br />

overall image quality is similar, the<br />

objectives of the educational microscope<br />

does show some blurring at<br />

the corners.<br />

2 3<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 9


TESTING<br />

Comparing objectives<br />

4 5<br />

6<br />

Figures 4 and 5: Afocal photograph through the 4x objective<br />

(left Olympus objective, right educational microscope objective).<br />

The images shows the fluff of a thistle plant. The objective<br />

of the educational microscope does show a<br />

significant blurriness towards the sides, which only be<strong>com</strong>es<br />

strongly evident when using a wide-field eyepeice.<br />

Figure 6: Afocal photograph through the 4x objective and<br />

the native eyepiece of the microscope. The eyepiece produced<br />

a lower field of view and therefore eliminated some of<br />

the blurry areas at the sides. The black line is a pointer.<br />

Figures 7 and 8: Comparison of the 10x objective (left Olympus<br />

objective, right BMS 136 objective). The image shows<br />

the cross section of a pine flower.<br />

Figures 9 and 10: Comparison of the 40x objective (left<br />

Olympus objective, right BMS 136 objective). Pine flower.<br />

The circular ring-shaped structures appear to be the vascular<br />

tissue. The objectives <strong>com</strong>pared quite well.<br />

guished from the better microscopes<br />

this way.<br />

The harsh reality is, that microscopes<br />

which are used for educating<br />

students are exposed to significant<br />

stress. Students do make mistakes, this<br />

is part of the learning process, and unfortunately<br />

some of the mistakes may<br />

result in damaged equipment. Despite<br />

warnings and instructions, I have encountered<br />

students who use non-oil immersion<br />

objectives with immersion oil.<br />

The front lenses of objectives were<br />

cracked because they were crashed into<br />

the specimen slide. I also remember one<br />

objective, which had a spring-loaded<br />

front. The whole spring-loaded front<br />

part was pushed in and was stuck. There<br />

was mounting medium all over the objective,<br />

causing the spring-loaded front<br />

to be glued in place. Evidently the student<br />

who used this microscope was not<br />

patient enough to wait for the mounting<br />

medium to dry and rotated the objective<br />

right into it.<br />

With these realities in mind, I think<br />

that it is better to use very cheap objectives<br />

for educational use. Dust and dirt<br />

will soon reduce the image quality anyway.<br />

Higher quality objectives might<br />

not show the optical aberrations of lower<br />

cost objectives, but I seriously doubt<br />

if this is worth the extra cost considering<br />

the other factors that reduce image<br />

quality. And let’s be honest about it: I<br />

doubt that the students even notice the<br />

blurriness at the sides of the field of<br />

view.<br />

■<br />

10 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Comparing objectives<br />

TESTING<br />

7 8<br />

9 10<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 11


OBSERVATIONS<br />

Plant Leaves<br />

Observing Plant Leaves<br />

Clear nail polish can be used to make impressions of plant leaves.<br />

The leaves are the photosynthetic<br />

organs of a plant. The cells are<br />

packed with chloroplasts, which<br />

convert CO 2 gas from the atmosphere<br />

and water to glucose, using the energy<br />

of sunlight. The produced glucose is<br />

then either respired and used as an energy<br />

source, or it is converted to other<br />

organic substances needed for plant<br />

growth. The cells of a leaf also produce<br />

molecular oxygen (O 2 gas) as a waste<br />

product. This gas is either given off into<br />

the atmosphere, or stored inside the leaf<br />

for the night, to be used for cell respiration.<br />

The Stomata<br />

In order to provide the cells of the<br />

leaf with sufficient CO 2 and to allow for<br />

the escape of O 2, the bottom side of the<br />

leaves contain countless openings, the<br />

stomata. Each stoma can be opened and<br />

closed by the expanding and contracting<br />

action of two guard cells. The stomata<br />

open during the day to allow for the free<br />

movement of gases into and out of the<br />

leaf. At night, when photosynthesis<br />

does not take place, the guard cells<br />

close the stomata to minimize the loss<br />

of water. Exceptions do exist, such as<br />

the CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism)<br />

plants, which grow in hot and dry<br />

environments. These plants close the<br />

stomata during the day to further reduce<br />

the water loss. These plants then open<br />

the stomata at night to allow CO 2 to<br />

enter the leaves. The CO 2 is fixed and<br />

the product is stored in vacuoles to be<br />

used for photosynthesis during day.<br />

The stomata and associated guard<br />

cells can be made visible in several<br />

ways. Thin leaves can be placed directly<br />

Oliver Kim<br />

on the slide for observations. The light<br />

intensity must be sufficiently high to<br />

pass through the leaf. The distinctive<br />

shape of the stomata and guard cells can<br />

then be seen, but the quality of the image<br />

is naturally not high. Carefully microtoming<br />

the leaf would be another<br />

possibility, but this can be<strong>com</strong>e a problem,<br />

especially when leaf observation is<br />

to be done with students or children,<br />

when safety issues start to play a role.<br />

Making leaf impressions is probably<br />

one of the least <strong>com</strong>plicated and easiest<br />

methods to make the surface texture of<br />

the leaves visible.<br />

Figure 1: Leaf impressions of the<br />

lower epidermis. Many stomata are<br />

visible (the oval structures).<br />

1<br />

12 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Plant Leaves<br />

OBSERVATIONS<br />

2<br />

Figure 2: Some clear nail polish is<br />

applied to the bottom side of a leaf<br />

and allowed to dry over night. I applied<br />

the nail polish several times<br />

over each other, in order to make the<br />

film of thicker and more stable. Painting<br />

over the leaf veins makes removal<br />

difficult, however.<br />

Figure 3: The dried nail polish is<br />

carefully removed by first lifting the<br />

corner with a knife and then peeling it<br />

off using your fingers.<br />

Figure 4: The nail polish in oblique<br />

illumination. Stomata are clearly visible.<br />

3 4<br />

Making leaf impressions<br />

Some glue or clear nail polish is<br />

applied to the bottom side of a leaf and<br />

allowed to dry <strong>com</strong>pletely. One should<br />

not apply the glue over the leaf veins, as<br />

this makes it more difficult for the glue<br />

to be separated after drying. The film is<br />

allowed to dry <strong>com</strong>pletely (one day)<br />

and then carefully peeled off and<br />

mounted on a slide for microscopic investigation.<br />

It may be necessary to use<br />

a sharp object to start peeling away the<br />

nail polish, the rest of the dried nail<br />

polish should <strong>com</strong>e off quite easily as<br />

the waxy cuticle on the surface of the<br />

leaves prevents the nail polish adhering<br />

to the cells. it goes without saying, that<br />

the solvent in the nail polish harms the<br />

leaves so that it is advisable to use the<br />

fallen leaves from a tree. Alternatively<br />

one can use water-based white wood<br />

glue, which should be less problematic<br />

in this respect. I found out that the white<br />

wood glue is more flexible than the nail<br />

polish and may deform more during the<br />

peeling process.<br />

The thin film of nail polish is then<br />

carefully pressed against the glass slide<br />

to reduce warping. It is then observed<br />

microscopically in the form of a dry<br />

mount.<br />

Making leaf impressions, while<br />

much easier than trying to cut the leaf<br />

into thin sections, does have the disadvantage<br />

that individual cell organelles,<br />

such as the green chloroplasts in the<br />

guard cells, naturally are not visible.<br />

Leaf impressions that are obtained<br />

this way are, naturally, low in contrast<br />

and require you to close the condenser<br />

aperture diaphragm. The leaf-impressions<br />

are, however, very suitable for<br />

observation in oblique illumination.<br />

This technique allows light to strike the<br />

specimen (i.e. the piece of glue carrying<br />

the leaf impression) only from one side,<br />

resulting in a characteristic 3-dimensional<br />

appearance (figure 4).<br />

The next obvious step would be the<br />

making of a permanent mount of the<br />

nail polish impressions. This is likely to<br />

be difficult, as the organic solvent of<br />

mounting media is likely to soften or<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 13


OBSERVATIONS<br />

Plant Leaves<br />

5<br />

14 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Plant Leaves<br />

OBSERVATIONS<br />

even dissolve the impression. It is also<br />

important that the refractive index of the<br />

mounting medium is different from the<br />

refractive index of the nail polish impression,<br />

otherwise the structures will<br />

not be visible. Evidently there are still<br />

many opportunities for experimentation.<br />

Other leaf tissues<br />

6<br />

UE<br />

A typical deciduous plant leaf is<br />

<strong>com</strong>posed of several layers. The top<br />

most layer of a leaf is a cell-free layer of<br />

wax, the cuticle. Its function is to reduce<br />

the loss of water from the cells. The<br />

waxy cuticle is produced by the upper<br />

epidermis. This layer of cells does not<br />

contain chloroplasts in order to allow<br />

sunlight to pass through unhindered.<br />

The palisade mesophyll is a layer of<br />

packed cells beneath the upper epidermis.<br />

The cells are arranged vertically<br />

and contain many chloroplasts. Their<br />

vertical arrangement and high density<br />

makes them an efficient layer for photosynthesis.<br />

Spaces between the individual<br />

palisade cells allow for the diffusion<br />

of CO 2 gas. Beneath the palisade mesophyll,<br />

one can find the spongy mesophyll.<br />

It is a loosely packed layer of<br />

cells, containing (as the name "spongy"<br />

suggests) many air spaces. This is the<br />

place where the gases CO 2 and O 2 are<br />

stored. Many cells are in contact with<br />

the air spaces and therefore the total<br />

surface area to loose water is also quite<br />

high. The lower epidermis is a single<br />

layer of cells on the bottom part of the<br />

leaf. It is the plant tissue which contains<br />

the guard cells and the stomata. With<br />

the exception of the guard cells, the<br />

lower epidermis is free of chloroplasts<br />

(figure 6).<br />

■<br />

Figure 5 (opposite page): This image<br />

shows a stack of the nail polish impression<br />

of the leaf surface.<br />

Figure 6: Cross section through a<br />

leaf. Abbreviations: UE: upper epidermis;<br />

P: palisade mesohyll, S: spongy<br />

mesophyll, LE: lower epidermis.<br />

Figures 7 and 8 (next page): The epidermis<br />

of a tulip leaf.<br />

LE<br />

S<br />

P<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 15


OBSERVATIONS<br />

Plant Leaves<br />

7<br />

8<br />

16 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Desmids<br />

REFERENCE PLATE<br />

Staurodesmus tumidus<br />

Mike Guwak<br />

Full name: Staurodesmus tumidus<br />

(Brébisson ex Ralfs)<br />

Teiling 1967: 578<br />

Shape: The cells are large and<br />

wider than they are long. The<br />

semicells can be elliptical or<br />

strongly rounded in a hexagonal<br />

arrangement. The septum is<br />

rounded in the center and strongly<br />

widened towards the sides. The<br />

cell wall contains scattered pores.<br />

According to Meindl (1987), the<br />

desmid may belong to the genus<br />

Pleurenterium, based on the position<br />

of the chloroplasts and other<br />

cell organelles in the cell.<br />

Size: 110-130mm<br />

Occurrence: This is a freshwater<br />

species.<br />

<strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - 17


REFERENCE PLATE<br />

Desmids<br />

References<br />

"Species Detail :: Algaebase." Algaebase :: Listing the World's Algae. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. <strong>2012</strong>.<br />

http://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=35537<br />

Lenzenweger, R. (1997). Desmidiaceenflora von Österreich Teil 2. Bibliotheca Phycologica 102: 1-216, 44 pls.<br />

Image Credit<br />

Image copyright Mike Guwak (<strong>2012</strong>).<br />

http://www.mikroskopie-main-taunus.de<br />

mike.guwak@mikroskopie-main-taunus.de<br />

18 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>


Rotifers<br />

GALLERY<br />

Rotifers found in the bottom of my aquarium,<br />

possibly Ptygura sp. Camera: Optikam B1<br />

by Luca Monzo.<br />

Send images to editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong> - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> - March <strong>2012</strong> - 19


GALLERY<br />

Annelid:<br />

Pictures of Aeolosoma sp.<br />

Camera: Optikam B1 at 1,3 MP and<br />

10xachromatic objective<br />

By Luca Monzo<br />

20 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - March <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - Send images to editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong>


Annelid:<br />

GALLERY<br />

Send images to editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong> - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> - March <strong>2012</strong> - 21


GALLERY<br />

Water life<br />

These pictures show of microalgae and<br />

cyanobacteria found near the lights of<br />

my aquarium.<br />

Bottom right: water flea<br />

(Chydorus sp.)<br />

Single images were taken with a<br />

microscope camera Optikam B1 at full<br />

resolution (1280 x 1024 pixels)<br />

22 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - March <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong> - Send images to editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong>


Amoeba<br />

GALLERY<br />

Two specimens of what I think is Thecamoeba,<br />

an amoeba that appears to<br />

possess a voracious appetite.<br />

Objective: 20x; illumination: DIC; exposure:<br />

1/13s (top image) and 1/25 s (bottom<br />

image), at 200 ISO.<br />

By R. Nassar<br />

Thanks goes to all contributors for giving<br />

their permission to republish their images.<br />

Send images to editor@microbehunter.<strong>com</strong> - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> - March <strong>2012</strong> - 23


What’s this? Answer on page 3.<br />

24 - <strong>MicrobeHunter</strong> Microscopy Magazine - <strong>October</strong> <strong>2012</strong>

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!