THE SPATIAL INFORMATION PRESERVATION METHOD - SAMPLING THE NANOSCALE SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION OF MICROORGANISMS

It has been hypothesized that plankton patchiness exists on scales of tens to hundreds of micrometers (nanoscale patchiness). Current sampli ng methods disrupt the spatial pattern on this scale and therefore can not detect nanoscale patchiness. We describe a method that allows the collection of microorganisms and other particles without destroying th eir relative spatial distribution. Our spatial information preservatio n (SIP) method is based on rapidly freezing a small sample of water. T he three-dimensional particle distribution captured in the ice is pres erved in two dimensions as a projection on a microscope slide. Experim ents were conducted on the extent of particle movement during freezing and removal of ice from around the particles, as well as the potentia l for cell loss during these procedures. The experiments demonstrate t hat microorganisms can be collected quantitatively with sufficient pre servation of their spatial distribution to resolve nanoscale patchines s.