Use of energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy for routine ultrastructural analysis of high-pressure-frozen or chemically fixed plant cells

Summary.

In the present study energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy by use of an in-column spectrometer is employed as a powerful tool for ultrastructural analysis of plant cells. Images of unstained very thin (50 nm) and thick (140 nm) sections of the unicellular green alga Micrasterias denticulata, as a model system for a growing plant cell, taken by conventional transmission electron microscopy are compared to those obtained from filtering at zero energy loss (elastic bright field) and to those generated by energy filtering below the carbon-specific absorption edge at about 250 eV. The results show that the high-contrast images produced by the latter technique are distinctly superior in contrast and information content to micrographs taken at conventional transmission electron microscopy mode or at elastic bright field. Post- or en bloc staining with heavy metals, which is indispensable for conventional bright-field transmission electron microscopy, can be completely omitted. Delicate structural details such as membranous or filamentous connections between organelles, organelle interactions, or vesicle and vacuole contents are clearly outlined against the cytoplasmic background. Also, immunoelectron microscopic localization of macromolecules benefits from energy-filtering transmission electron microscopy by a better and more accurate assignment of antigens and structures and by facilitating the detection of immunomarkers without renunciation of contrast.