I was happy to see this thread develop.  I am also just moving into the
confocal stages of a microbial ecology project (also utilizing ssu rRNA
probes).
None of the previous replies has mentioned the depth of field trade off one
suffers when increasing magnification. I am under the impression that
because 63x objective provides greater depth of field one can afford fewer
steps along the z-axis. I assume this saves time in imaging and analysis
and, obviously, memory.
Do these assumptions hold or is my confocal inexperience showing?

Kevin Brent Smith
University of Louisville Biology Dept.

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