Increasing throughput of manual microscopy of cell suspensions using solid medium pads.

Microscopy of multiple samples using slides and coverslips is time consuming and good images are sometimes difficult to obtain due to cell movement. Our method involves manual spotting of multiple cell samples onto solid-medium pads, which creates the following benefits: •Rapid, high-quality imaging of multiple samples (hundreds per day) by visible and fluorescence microscopy.•No need for expensive automated equipment, multi-well plates or large amounts of consumables.•Wide range of working cell concentrations. The method was implemented for yeast, however it is likely to be applicable to all types of microorganisms and possibly other microscopic samples such as pollen. The lack of need for automated equipment may also make this method useful for field work.