I've never worked with C elegans but menthol is an effective anaesthetic
for many invertebrates.  Just put a lump in the medium and remove it
when they stop moving.  Rinse and dry the menthol for next time.

                                         Guy

Optical Imaging Techniques in Cell Biology
by Guy Cox    CRC Press / Taylor & Francis
     http://www.guycox.com/optical.htm
______________________________________________
Associate Professor Guy Cox, MA, DPhil(Oxon) 
Australian Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis, 
Madsen Building F09, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 

Phone +61 2 9351 3176     Fax +61 2 9351 7682
             Mobile 0413 281 861
______________________________________________
      http://www.guycox.net
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Jay Vyas
Sent: Thursday, 26 August 2010 2:03 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Protocol for imaging C. elegans on inverted spinning disk
confocal microscope

Hi-

We have a collaborator who is interested in confocal microscopy of C. 
elegans. We have not done work with this organism and are looking for
the 
best way to immobilize the worm and prepare the sample for imaging on
our 
spinning disk confocal microscope. We have a typical inverted microscope
set-
up (Nikon body). 
The collaborator prefers to keep the worm(s) alive, so we need a method
to 
immobilize them (anesthesia?).
Do folks use agar when mounting samples? Which slides are typically used
for 
this purpose? If there is a reference, I would love to get the citation.

Thanks,
Jay Vyas
Massachusetts General Hospital

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