A novel thin section preparation and staining protocol to increase contrast and resolution of cell details for light microscopy.

A novel thin section preparation and staining protocol to increase contrast and resolution of cell details for light microscopy.
Biotech Histochem. 2019 May 02;:1-5
Authors: Niki T, Saito S, Gladish DK
Abstract
We developed a novel sectioning and staining method to make high contrast, high resolution sections of plant tissue for light microscopy. Specimens of teosinte (Zea mays L., ssp. mexicana) root tips were fixed and embedded in Technovit 7100™ plastic resin. Thin sections, 1-2.5 μm, were cut and mounted on glass slides. The sections were either treated with RNase or not, then stained with 0.1% toluidine blue O and observed through ∞/0 objective lenses. For light microscopy, the enzyme staining procedure increased resolution and contrast. High magnification ∞/0 objective lenses produced high quality images for digital photography without using a coverslip or immersion oil. Our slide preparation and microscopic analysis were less labor intensive and more rapid than previous methods and enabled rapid and precise alignment of serial transverse sections for both tracking cell lineages and tissue measurements.
PMID: 31043085 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: Biotechnic and Histochemistry - May 1, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Niki T, Saito S, Gladish DK Tags: Biotech Histochem Source Type: research