Root Staining and Slide Preparation

Finally I have a more project-oriented post! As mentioned last week, we have stained the roots harvested from the bioassay. We used a protocol very similar to the following for staining:
http://tmemam.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/0/2/13027468/mycorrhizal_staining_and_root_colonization_protocol_web.pdf .

After following the protocol, the roots remain in the jar of what seem like pickled cassettes until I make each cassette into a slide to view under the microscope.

While the liquid is very purple in color, the roots are actually stained black, enabling us to see the mycorrhizae present. I then use the PVLG to mount the roots on slides, 10 of which are completed and drying for viewing. 

Once I have made slides for all of the bioassay root subsets, I will work on making slides of the sedum/field roots that we gathered from the roots in the summer. The two types of slides can then be compared. We will be following the intersection scoring method to quantify the mycorrhizae in each subset-more about that to come. 

I know you can't exactly see the roots on these drying slides, but once they are actually ready to be seen under the microscope, I'll provide some better pictures. The PVLG is pretty sticky, so the slides can't be viewed until the slides are in a more fixed position.

While the next couple of weeks will be very chaotic with the winding down of the semester and Thanksgiving, I will try my best to keep posting!

Busy Days

I know this post is a week late, but I am just providing an update in the meantime before getting back to the more project-related blog posts that I typically have.

In the lab, we have mainly been working on cleaning and staining the roots from the bioassay in order to mount them on slides for us to do counts of the mycorrhizae present when viewed under a microscope. I will provide the exact protocols in next week's blog post. I am also about to start a side project for my evolution class that will explore the evolution of mycorrhizal symbioses, which should be a very interesting and helpful bit of knowledge to have.

My days have been especially crazy as I am applying to graduate school and am working on polishing my application essays and CV, and I finally have enough letters of recommendation to apply! Last Friday, I visited Penn State University again, which is my top choice for grad school. I am looking to apply to one of the integrated biology programs there, particularly in either bioinformatics & genomics or genetics. After meeting with some really great potential advisors, the plot has thickened, and I am not entirely sure of which program I will be applying to. I am sure it will become clear with a couple more weeks of personal reflection and discussion. If anyone has any advice in the graduate school application process, please let me know.

Soon I will be able to provide some more root-related information! Until then, in the words of Thomas Huxley, "Try to learn something about everything and everything about something".