Making tardigrades opaque

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jjtr1
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat May 07, 2022 8:51 am

Making tardigrades opaque

#1 Post by jjtr1 » Fri Feb 17, 2023 11:55 am

Hello! Is there a cheap and simple way to make tardigrades' surface opaque, so that cuticle morphology can be easily observed, obtaining images somewhat similar to SEM electron microscopy?

In principle, I could use vacuum sputter coaters that deposit gold or palladium or carbon on samples for SEM. But those are expensive and an overkill. I don't need the nanometric grain size that electron scope needs. Optical scope has far lower resolution.

So I was rather thinking about some DIYable method for coating a dry sample. Soot from candle flame? Inks? Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Edit: Has anyone observed in an optical scope a biological sample (insect, bacterium, tardigrade...), that has actually been sputter coated for later observation in an SEM? What did it look like?

dtsh
Posts: 977
Joined: Wed May 01, 2019 6:06 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Re: Making tardigrades opaque

#2 Post by dtsh » Fri Feb 17, 2023 1:53 pm

I can't help with your main question, but I had remembered a thread from the past where a person (Horace Dall) had been coating diatoms

https://www.microbehunter.com/microscop ... =6&t=15458

BramHuntingNematodes
Posts: 1538
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:29 am
Location: Georgia, USA

Re: Making tardigrades opaque

#3 Post by BramHuntingNematodes » Fri Feb 17, 2023 3:21 pm

Maybe an airbrush of the kind model-makers use
1942 Bausch and Lomb Series T Dynoptic, Custom Illumination

MichaelG.
Posts: 3976
Joined: Mon Apr 10, 2017 8:24 am
Location: North Wales

Re: Making tardigrades opaque

#4 Post by MichaelG. » Sat Feb 18, 2023 8:51 am

I recently came across this very interesting paper on “Silver Staining”
https://www.ableweb.org/biologylabs/wp- ... ggoner.pdf

… should be very suitable.

MichaelG.
Too many 'projects'

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