A new method for isolating and analysing coccospheres within sediment.

ABSTRACT: Size is a fundamental cellular trait that is important in determining phytoplankton physiological and ecological processes. Fossil coccospheres, the external calcite structure produced by the excretion of interlocking plates by the phytoplankton coccolithophores, can provide a rare window into cell size in the past. Coccospheres are delicate however and are therefore poorly preserved in sediment. We demonstrate a novel technique combining imaging flow cytometry and cross-polarised light (ISX^+PL) to rapidly and reliably visually isolate and quantify the morphological characteristics of coccospheres from marine sediment by exploiting their unique optical and morphological properties. Imaging flow cytometry combines the morphological information provided by microscopy with high sam

SUBMITTER: Langley B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7692543 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature