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Fbs-161 Plant Anatomy

Lab exercise # 1

FREE HAND SECTIONING

Prepared by: Joseph C. Paquit

INTRODUCTION

Free hand sectioning is a microtechnique or method of preparing portions of the media to be

studied by manual cutting. It is one of the simplest methods in preparing specimens for microscopic

viewing. It often provides an adequate method for rapid and inexpensive microscopic observation of

plant internal structure. Basically it involves the use of sharp blade to slice a very thin section of the

media.

Free hand sectioning is commonly restricted to plant specimens that are easy to cut. Moreover,

this very simple technique that when precisely executed, often results in high quality images.

OBJECTIVES

1. To familiarize free hand sectioning2. To prepare free-hand cross sections of root, stem and leaf of Bagalunga (Melia azedarach)

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Plant material

Roots, stem and leaves of Bagalunga (Melia azedarach) were used for the study: Root, stem and leaves

were taken from a naturally growing seedling of Bagalunga at the UPLB College of Forestry and Natural

Resources tree Nursery.

Sectioning

Samples for observation were prepared by standard free-hand sectioning. The sections were cut with

smooth strokes and placed on a petri plate with water to keep the samples fresh. The same procedure was

done until the desired sample is achieved. The sample was then finally mounted on a microscope slide for

observation.

Photography

Sections were observed with a microscope (Olympus CX21). Images were manually recorded using a

built in 3 megapixel camera from a cell phone.

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RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Figure1. Non- stained free hand cross sections of stem (A), root (B) and leaf (C) of Bagalunga (Meliaazedarach) under 10 x magnification.

Free hand sectioning has proven to be an effective method in observing plant internal structures.

The clear advantage of this method is the simplicity, do not require the use of extra instruments other than

microscope, and usually results to better output.

Most plants are either too large or too thick to be clearly viewed under the microscope. In order to study

the structural organization of plant parts such as stem, root and leaves, sections have to be made. The

purpose is for light to be effectively transmitted and penetrate though the specimen to view the structure

under observation.

As shown above, different structures are shown within different plant organs. Direct observation on the

microscopic images will give us a view of clear distinction between the 3 types of tissues, the dermal,

ground and vascular tissue. This exercise as a whole teach us properly undertake free hand sectioning

without much regard on the identification of specific parts under observation. This is a real preparatory

activity for a more appreciative works on plant anatomy.

A B

C