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Formaldehyde and glutaraldehyde in the fixation of chromatin for electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Sewell B. Trevor,
Bouloukos Catherina,
Holt Claus
Publication year - 1984
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.1365-2818.1984.tb02550.x
Subject(s) - glutaraldehyde , fixative , formaldehyde , chromatin , electron microscope , ammonium chloride , chemistry , fixation (population genetics) , ammonium , dna , biophysics , chemical engineering , biochemistry , chromatography , biology , organic chemistry , physics , cytoplasm , optics , gene , engineering
SUMMARY Glutaraldehyde and formaldehyde have been used to fix chromatin core particles for electron microscopy. Glutaraldehyde crosslinks protein only, whereas formaldehyde crosslinks protein and DNA. This is confirmed by the observation that the detergents sodium dodecyl sulphate, Sarkosyl NL 35 and benzylalkyldimethyl ammonium chloride separate the DNA from the protein in the case of glutaraldehyde fixed core particles but not in the case of formaldehyde fixed core particles. The fixative used in the preparation must therefore be considered as a further variable when evaluating electron microscopic images of chromatin.