You can get a lot of chromophores like x-gal to give off some sort of
fluorescence when you hit them hard enough with laser light.  Just try it
out - reflectance may work too but not if you are working on agar.
We have used some of the fluorescent beta-gal reporters (Flourescein
DiGalactose, resorufin galactose) for confocal of bacterial cells, but find
them very leaky.  There are some other derivatives (some sort of thiol
group) that presumably bind to proteins within the cell and therefore is
better retained.
Rob Palmer
CEB/UT


>Dear confocalists!
>
>Has anyone experiences with a (possible) recording of the blue product of
>X-Gal cleavage by confocal microscopy? Is it possible to record in
>transmission/reflection (or even fluorescence) mode?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Guenter
>
>
>----------------------------------
>Dr. Guenter Giese
>MPI fuer Medizinische Forschung
>Jahnstr. 29
>D-69120 Heidelberg
>Phone (Germany or 0-)6221-486-320
>Fax   (Germany or 0-)6221-486-325
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>------------------------------------------