Guide for using the various plant measurement tools and software in the Maloof Lab.

Leaf blade and petiole measurement

Use LeafJ

Sectioning using the vibratome

First, get trained on the vibratome by a Sinha lab member

Then, see the Sinha lab protocol on vibratome sectioning and toluidine blue staining

Weighing samples

You can use the Ohaus Scout Pro balance and connect it to a computer so that your measurements are directly entered in Excel

PC

Currently setup on the Lab Toshiba and Asus laptops. The Toshiba is pretty dirty from field work, but does work. The Asus does not have Office installed, but you could use Google Sheets.

Setup

  • Download and install the free version of 232Key
  • Plug the USB cable of the Ohaus Balance into your PC. If a driver is needed you can install the FTDIUSBSerialDriver. However you can let windows try to find the driver for you (worked for me).
  • Start 232key
  • Go to the "Input Tab" and adjust the settings:
    • Port: COM4 - USB Serial Port - FTDI (note: the COM number may be different)
    • Device: Ohaus
    • Bits/s: 2400
    • Data bits: 7
    • Stop bits: 1
    • Parity: none
    • Terminator: 13<CR>
  • Go to the "Output Tab" and adjust the settings:
    • End with: Enter (Or choose what works best for you)

Use

  • Start 232key
  • Go to the "Input Tab" and adjust the settings if needed to match those under "setup" above
  • Go to the "Output Tab" and adjust the settings if needed
  • Go to the Start/Stop tab and press Start
  • Open the Spreadsheet application of choice.
  • When you want to record a measurement press Print on the scale.

Macintosh

Setup

  • You may need to install the FTDIUSBSerialDriver but try first with out.
  • Download CoolTerm
  • Clone the PlantMeasurement github repository. This includes:
    • OhausBalance.stc , a settings file for CoolTerm
    • CooltermToExcel.app , an AppleScript file to connect the balance to Excel.
  • Plug the USB cable from the balance into your mac and make sure the scale is on.
  • Double click on the OhausBalance file that you just downloaded. This will open CoolTerm, preconfigured for the balance.
  • Click Connect in the CoolTerm window that opened.
  • Test to see if it works: press "Print" on the scale. You should see the weight entered in the CoolTerm window. If it doesn't work, click options. You may need to choose a different port. If so, save your updated settings file

Use

  • Open your data collection spreadsheet in Excel.
  • Double click on OhausBalance file to open CoolTerm
  • Double click on the CoolTermToExcel Application
  • Click on the cell where you want the first data entry to go in Excel.
  • Make a measurement and press "print" on the scale.
  • The excel cursor should automatically advance to the next row.

Use on Mini Mac on the right

  • Open your data collection spreadsheet in Excel or Google Chrome
  • On the desktop, click on Finder, go to Applications, and open the folder Ohaus
  • Double click on OhausBalance file to open CoolTerm
  • Depending on if you're using Excel or Google Chrome, double click on the CoolTermToExcel or CoolTermToGoogleSpreadsheets Application
  • Click on the cell where you want the first data entry to go in Excel.
  • Make a measurement and press "print" on the scale.
  • The excel cursor should automatically advance to the next row.