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. begin 600 WINMAIL.DAT M>)\^(C06`0:0" `$```````!``$``0>0!@`(````Y 0```````#H``$(@ <` M& ```$E032Y-:6-R;W-O9G0@36%I;"Y.;W1E`#$(`0V ! `"`````@`"``$$ MD 8`\ $```$````0`````P``, (````+``\.``````(!_P\!````60`````` M``"!*Q^DOJ,0&9UN`-T!#U0"`````$-O;F9O8V%L($UI8W)O<V-O<'D@3&ES M= !33510`$-/3D9/0T%,0$Q)4U1315)6+D%#4U4N0E5&1D%,3RY%1%4````` M'@`", $````%````4TU44 `````>``,P`0```",```!#3TY&3T-!3$!,25-4 M4T525BY!0U-5+D)51D9!3$\N1415```#`!4,`0````,`_@\&````'@`!, $` M```;````)T-O;F9O8V%L($UI8W)O<V-O<'D@3&ES="<```(!"S !````* `` M`%--5% Z0T].1D]#04Q 3$E35%-%4E8N04-352Y"549&04Q/+D5$50`#```Y M``````L`0#H!````'@#V7P$````9````0V]N9F]C86P@36EC<F]S8V]P>2!, M:7-T``````(!]U\!````60````````"!*Q^DOJ,0&9UN`-T!#U0"`````$-O M;F9O8V%L($UI8W)O<V-O<'D@3&ES= !33510`$-/3D9/0T%,0$Q)4U1315)6 M+D%#4U4N0E5&1D%,3RY%1%4``````P#]7P$````#`/]?``````(!]@\!```` M! ````````*=9P$$@ $`'@```%)%.B!#3%--(&EN(&UI8W)O8FEA;"!E8V]L M;V=Y`/L)`06 `P`.````S@<$`!P`$@`<`#$``@!6`0$@@ ,`#@```,X'! `< M`!(``P`"``(`#@$!"8 !`"$````U-34W-C8S,4,Q1$5$,3$Q.38S,# P-# P M-3%$.#!!, ##!@$#D 8`L 4``"$````+``(``0````L`(P```````P`F```` M```+`"D```````,`+@```````P`V``````! `#D`8!G/`_5RO0$>`' ``0`` M`!X```!213H@0TQ332!I;B!M:6-R;V)I86P@96-O;&]G>0````(!<0`!```` M%@````&]<O4#K3%F5U;>P1'1EC `0 4=@* ``!X`'@P!````!0```%--5% ` M````'@`?# $````>````:V)S;6ET,#% :&]M97(N;&]U:7-V:6QL92YE9'4` M```#``803D'$30,`!Q#J`0``'@`($ $```!E````25=!4TA!4%!95$]31454 M2$E35$A214%$1$5614Q/4$E!34%,4T]*55-434]624Y'24Y43U1(14-/3D9/ M0T%,4U1!1T533T9!34E#4D]"24%,14-/3$]'65!23TI%0U0H04Q33P`````" M`0D0`0```($"``!]`@``&@,``$Q:1G7N*^_S`P`*`')C<&<Q,C46,@#X"V!N M#A P,S.=`?<@`J0#XP(`8V@*P&!S970P( <3`H!]LPJ ",@@.PEO#C U`H#9 M"H%U8P!0"P-C`$$+M6 @22!W800@$0!P0'!Y('1O(!$P91T6<&@$`!;A"7!A M9"")`0!V90D`<"X@%;$D86T88&QS%I!J=99S!4 $8'8+@&<@"X"O%H$6\!;0 M!:!N`A!C!T#+%J !D&<'D6]F&& 9,&L-X -@8@<Q( 61"0!GM19@< -@:@60 M!4 H&*-D=70#$&EZ&7($$'6@(')23D$<HF('D.XI&" *H@J 3@(@%M ;0?<: M`ARP%\!I"& $( EP"U#_") 6`@0@!X ",""P'] 7D%<:`@$`!3!H&S)F")!L M_2)!<A> '^(;4!_"'D !(/L$D 0@=QH0`Z +@ 4`%W#W`) 9@0# 9P,`(S : MD"'R\Q@@&%-U;@2!&?,'<"!Q[P00(@$6X29P(![P&I 9`%$6T#8S>!LP8ASB M:?\7T!RB&6 !``0@"<$F<"=A[R*M'\(:D .@80$@!; 7D/TDH'<G81D0(1 $ M( = `B##&9 :`GHM87@$`";#YQXQ!X 6Y'-A%] 7(0=Q_QFA)\$:\!ER`' 7 MD !P!T#N>0"0+<$G0"PI@2"C,;!G,D '@ 1@<GD8(1]41/\9XRDA+R,%,"(! M%@$&\"P1.P7 %Q%M%F :1PN 97CV< 9Q"?!C)%$U4 [log in to unmask] M%.(18$O[()$#H$()< (P!@`;D!;P_1]450,`%] 1(#J@%F ;04Y,"& $`!E@ M;&P6T$)K(+ <8T0BL2XX:A'Q``$^D ````,`$! ``````P`1$ $````#`( 0 M_____T `!S! ?)-I\7*]`4 `"#! ?)-I\7*]`0L``( (( 8``````, ````` M``!&``````.%`````````P`"@ @@!@``````P ```````$8`````$(4````` M```#``6 "" &``````# ````````1@````!2A0``MPT``!X`)8 (( 8````` M`, ```````!&`````%2%```!````! ```#@N, `#`": "" &``````# ```` M````1@`````!A0````````L`+X (( 8``````, ```````!&``````Z%```` M`````P`P@ @@!@``````P ```````$8`````$84````````#`#* "" &```` M``# ````````1@`````8A0```````!X`08 (( 8``````, ```````!&```` M`#:%```!`````0`````````>`$* "" &``````# ````````1@`````WA0`` M`0````$`````````'@!#@ @@!@``````P ```````$8`````.(4```$````! E`````````!X`/0`!````!0```%)%.B ``````P`--/TW```$,X4` ` end