Question

Is there a product that I can use to visualize microorganisms sitting on a solid 5x5 mm white surface without electron microscopy? I have tried EM without luck because it only shows a small bit of the structure and its difficult to distinguish between the surface and the microorganisms (mostly bacteria). I would like to see how the microorganism is distributed on the surface . Does anyone have experience with this? Is there a staining technique out there that I can use?

Answer 1

Well, if the solid surface is thin enough to be able to use an epifluorescence microscope to visualise it (i.e. like a microscope slide), then you should be able to use a DAPI staining protocol or Sybr green protocol to stain them.

You should use the surface as a slide and mount it with a cover glass, so a way to prevent your bacteria to move is by adding some agarose (I think 0.1-0.05% don't remember well now).