In vivo study of diatom assemblages using low temperature method for ESEM

0481582 - ÚPT 2018 RIV HR eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Tihlaříková, Eva - Neděla, Vilém - Fránková, Markéta
In vivo study of diatom assemblages using low temperature method for ESEM.
13th Multinational Congress on Microscopy: Book of Abstracts. Zagreb: Ruder Bošković Institute, Croatian Microscopy Society, 2017 - (Gajović, A.; Weber, I.; Kovačević, G.; Čadež, V.; Šegota, S.; Peharec Štefanić, P.; Vidoš, A.), s. 64-65. ISBN 978-953-7941-19-2.
[Multinational Congress on Microscopy /13./. Rovinj (HR), 24.09.2017-29.09.2017]
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) LO1212; GA MŠMT ED0017/01/01
Institutional support: RVO:68081731 ; RVO:67985939
Keywords : ESEM * diatom * morphology * LTM
OECD category: Plant sciences, botany; Plant sciences, botany (BU-J)

Diatoms are the most species-rich algal group represented by 12 000 described species and are recognized as powerful bio indicators and used for water quality monitoring. Diatom taxonomy is predominantly based on the morphology of ornate silicified cell wall called frustule composed of two overlapping parts (thecae). This frustule displays intricate patterns and designs unique to each species. For these studies conventional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was and still is widely used. This method requires cleaning of diatom frustules in strong acids and peroxides followed by conductive coating.This aggressive procedure removes protoplast and damages delicate structures. Environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) brings advantages of observation of fresh diatom material that are presence of whole intact diatom cells, not only empty diatom frustules, extracellular mucilaginous diatom secrets (e.g. pads, stalks, tubes) and whole diatom assemblages directly in situ together with other algal assemblages (e.g. cyanobacteria or green algae). However, in diatom research, ESEM is used mainly for elimination of conductive coating and observation of these organisms in their native wet state adhered directly on the host plant is not yet common. The ESEM observation of native aquatic samples is usually affected with radiation damage that can be lovered by the use of special methods like the Low Temperature Method (LTM) for the ESEM.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0277119