Updated:
22 June 2006
Botany
Demonstration
Plant Histology
Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
Stan Yankowski, histology lab manager,
hosted a plant histology demonstration
for the RTP students. The hands-on workshop
gave students the chance to use the
rotary microtome for sectioning plant
specimens. Embedded in paraffin, the
first sections of Commelina "ribbons"
appear, having been sliced off in micron
thin sections by a razor blade knife.
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Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
Paraffin blocks ready to section; leaves
and flowers. Plant parts are cleared,
stained, and then embedded in paraffin
in preparation for thin sectioning,
usually using a rotary microtome.
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Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
Elis
Silva, Laura Florez, and Suzy Pilaar watch
and searn sectioning techniques from Stan
Yankowski.
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Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
Laura
Florez was the first student to attempt
use of the rotary microtome to section
a specimen.
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Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
Suzy
Pilaar uses the microtome.
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Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
Although
clear in bright field, Amy Marquardt is
seeing calcium oxalate crystals (found
in the epidermis of Buforrestia)
in vivid technicolor thru a microscope
equipped with polarized light.
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Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
The
freezing microtome supports a specimen
in a matrix of ice on a cold stage. It
is especially useful for unfixed tissue.
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Plant
Histology Workshop
Monday,
11 June 2007
Three
examples of histological specimens: color
slides of various plant structures, cleared
and stained leaves, and microslides sectioned
using a rotary microtome.
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Photo
captions by Morgan Little
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