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Uranyl sulphate: A new negative stain for electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Estis Leonard F.,
Haschemeyer Rudy H.,
Wall Joseph S.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of microscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2818
pISSN - 0022-2720
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1981.tb02495.x
Subject(s) - uranyl acetate , uranyl , chemistry , transmission electron microscopy , scanning electron microscope , electron microscope , stain , analytical chemistry (journal) , nuclear chemistry , inorganic chemistry , crystallography , materials science , chromatography , staining , optics , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , biology , ion , physics , genetics , composite material
SUMMARY Uranyl sulphate is a negative stain of high quality for electron microscopy of macromolecules below their isoelectric point. The stain results in good contrast and high resolution as demonstrated by optical diffraction of periodic structure. Analysis of scanning transmission electron microscopic data reveals that uranyl sulphate is lower in background noise level than uranyl acetate and is dramatically more resistant toward granularization upon continued exposure to electron irradiation. Electron microscopic images of most macromolecules contrasted with uranyl sulphate were indistinguishable from those obtained with uranyl acetate. However, electron microscopic images of Reo virus contrasted with uranyl sulphate are always readily distinguished from those obtained with uranyl acetate.