ENHANCING SPECIFIC COMPETENCES IN MICROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES IN PLANT SCIENCES MASTER STUDENTS

Development of competences for the use of advanced research techniques is of great relevance for the formation of Master students in the broad field of Plant Sciences. In order to understand the cellular processes, students will often need to observe the morphology and internal physiology of the cells, as well as make specific stains to identify different biomolecules such as lipids, carbohydrates or proteins. For this, it is necessary to subject the plant tissues to ultrathin cuts. However, this material is commonly provided directly to the students and they never get acquainted with the previous process for getting the cut tissue slices. Our Institute offers a master's degree in Plant Breeding and Genetics, in which the basics of microscopy are imparted within the course "Instrumental techniques". In this contribution we propose the introduction to a practical lesson in the course "Instrumental techniques", consisting in the elaboration of glass blades and realization of ultrathin cuts for optical microscopy. As a starting material, we will use leaf and eggplant root tissues encapsulated in Technovit7100 resin.

The design of the practice requires 9 hours divided into three sessions, in which the students will:
a) learn how to make their own glass blades to make cuts,
b) become familiar with the use of the ultramicrotome, and
c) learn to make ultrathin cuts for the observation under the optical microscope.

This practice will allow students to understand the process prior to the use of microscopic preparations, become familiar with advanced microscope equipment and learn to work with resin blocks with encapsulated sample. This will enhance their skills for basic research on the use of microscopy techniques in Plant Sciences.