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Ultrastructural imaging of freeze‐fractured plant cells in the scanning electron microscope
Author(s) -
Barnes Susan H.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/jemt.1070220205
Subject(s) - maceration (sewage) , ultrastructure , cytoplasm , scanning electron microscope , fracture (geology) , electron microscope , plant cell , materials science , microscopy , biophysics , chemistry , biology , pathology , composite material , anatomy , optics , microbiology and biotechnology , physics , biochemistry , medicine , gene
Abstract The application of the freeze‐fracture and cytoplasmic maceration technique in ultrastructural studies of plant cells is described. A major advantage of the technique is, that by extracting mobile cytoplasmic components from the freeze‐fractured cells, surface relief is introduced and three‐dimensional information is obtainable. The details of specimen preparation are described and the results obtained are reviewed. The use of chitosan embedding for very small or fragile specimens is described. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.