Pressure chamber with a viewport and magnet manipulators to study biological samples

ABSTRACT

A simple easy way for production in laboratory chamber is described to study biological samples subjected to gas pressure up to 5 MPa with a transparent viewport and light-emitting diode light. The main application of the chamber is to study the dynamics of plant growth under changes in external pressure. However, equipping the chamber with magnetically controlled manipulators allows the simultaneous treatment of samples with chemical agents and chemical fixation of samples for electron microscopy directly under pressure which allows one to extend the range of tasks. As an example of practical application of the chamber, the dynamics of growth of maize seedling roots under the air pressure of 2 MPa, and electron microscope photos of the cross section of maize root segments fixed directly at 2 and 4 MPa and after pressure dampening from 4 MPa to the atmosphere level are shown.

KEYWORDS:

• Gas pressure
• magnet manipulators
• pressure chamber
• viewport

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to F. Abdrakhimov for rendering assistance in the electron microscopy experiments.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Grants Nos. 16-34-00823 and 15-04-04431 from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.