Protocol of Plant Specimen Preparation for Transmission Electron Microscopy (Conventional Methods)

Extract

These notes address conventional specimen preparation for higher plant tissues. While in many cases freeze-substitution has been shown to be a superior method, the equipment required is not generally available in most electron microscopic laboratories, Thus, the more conventional procedures outlined herein have been found to work satisfactorily for most leaf material, and have been most successful in the fixation and embedment of small root slices (from near the root tip), An adjustment of the osmotic pressure may be necessary if the plant material used is highly vacuolated and if there is an exceptionally high water content.