Our department just got a new light-sheet microscope.
To image worms (not embryos) we need to get them to stick to a small coverslip and then place the coverslip (without a second puiece of glass on top) into an 8 ml bath for imaging.
Any ideas for getting L1 larvae or adults to stick to a coverslip with only aqueous buffers on top?
I just read a paper in which they coated a coverslip with poly-lysine to get live worms to stick:
http://www.nature.com/ncb/journal/v18/n12/abs/ncb3439.html
I have used it myself for sticking worms to slides for antibody staining and it works quite nicely. Just be sure to keep the coverslips in a closed container as soon as you’ve added the poly-lysine. If any dust gets on them it will drastically reduce the ability of the worms to stick.
Also be sure to have the worms very well rinsed (bacteria on the outside will prevent sticking).
If you are making the cover slips yourself, longer poly-lysine (e.g. >300,000 available from Sigma) is stickier than shorter poly-lysine.