Dear Karen--

Karen S. Zaruba wrote:

> What is a good low pH mounting medium?  I'm using a dye with optimal properties
> in the pH 2-3 range (I think), but my 50% glycerol in water seems to vary a
> little in pH over time (may be my imagination - I'm just beginning to look into
> this).  I'm chemistry-challenged and don't want to mix glycerol in a buffer that
> will be incompatible.  I have been using either acetate or citrate buffer to
> dilute the dye, and could use just this buffer to mount the prep's, but I like
> using glycerol to keep things from drying out too quickly.

Glycerol is REALLY hydrophyllic.  Thus you could use almost any buffer
and it'll be fine, as long as you don't push the concentration too
much.  I'd use 0.05 M of citrate or isethionate (--the latter has a pKa
of about 1.8).

Good luck!

Martin Wessendorf
--
Martin Wessendorf, Ph.D.                        office: (612) 626 0145
Associate Professor                             lab:    (612) 624 2991
Dept. Neuroscience                      Preferred FAX:  (612) 624 8118
University of Minnesota                 Dept FAX:       (612) 626 5009
Minneapolis, MN  55455                e-mail: [log in to unmask]