Skip to main content

Imaging Plant Cells by High-Pressure Freezing and Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy

  • Protocol
  • First Online:
Plant Endosomes

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2177))

Abstract

This chapter describes methods to enhanced contrast of plant material processed by high-pressure freezing and freeze substitution for improved visualization by serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBEM). The contrast enhancing steps are based on a protocol involving the sequential incubation of samples in heavy metals and sodium thiocarbohydrazide (OTO staining). We also describe the pipeline for imaging plant tissues in a commercial SBEM system (Gatan 3View®) and routines for the image analysis and three-dimensional reconstructions using open-source and commercial software packages.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rieder CL (1981) Thick and thin serial sectioning for the three-dimensional reconstruction of biological ultrastructure. In: Turner JN (ed) Methods in cell biology. Academic Press, New York, pp 215–249

    Google Scholar 

  2. Zheng HQ, Staehelin LA (2001) Nodal endoplasmic reticulum, a specialized form of endoplasmic reticulum found in gravity-sensing root tip columella cells. Plant Physiol 125:252–265

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. McEwen BF, Marko M (2001) The emergence of electron tomography as an important tool for investigating cellular ultrastructure. J Histochem Cytochem 49:553–564

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Leighton SB (1981) SEM images of block faces, cut by a miniature microtome within the SEM - a technical note. Scan Electron Microsc 73–76.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Denk W, Horstmann H (2004) Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy to reconstruct three-dimensional tissue nanostructure. PLOS Biol 2:e329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Deerinck TJ et al (2018) High-performance serial block-face SEM of nonconductive biological samples enabled by focal gas injection-based charge compensation. J Microsc 270:142–149

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Peddie CJ, Collinson LM (2014) Exploring the third dimension: volume electron microscopy comes of age. Micron 61:9–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wei D et al (2012) High-resolution three-dimensional reconstruction of a whole yeast cell using focused-ion beam scanning electron microscopy. BioTechniques 53:41–48

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Smith D, Starborg T (2019) Serial block face scanning electron microscopy in cell biology: applications and technology. Tissue Cell 57:111–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Seligman AM, Wasserkrug HL, Hanker JS (1966) A new staining method (OTO) for enhancing contrast of lipid—containing membranes and droplets in osmium tetroxide—fixed tissue with osmiophilic thiocarbohydrazide (TCH). J Cell Biol 30:424–432

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Deerinck TJ et al (2010) Enhancing serial block-face scanning electron microscopy to enable high resolution 3-D nanohistology of cells and tissues. Microsc Microanal 16:1138–1139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kittelmann M, Hawes C, Hughes L (2016) Serial block face scanning electron microscopy and the reconstruction of plant cell membrane systems. J Microsc 263:200–211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Otegui MS, Pennington JG (2019) Electron tomography in plant cell biology. Microscopy (Oxf) 68:69–79

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Bourett TM, Czymmek KJ, Howard RJ (1999) Ultrastructure of chloroplast protuberances in rice leaves preserved by high-pressure freezing. Planta 208:472–479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Kiss JZ et al (1990) Comparison of the ultrastructure of conventionally fixed and high pressure frozen/freeze substituted root tips of Nicotiana and Arabidopsis. Protoplasma 157:64–74

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Willingham MC, Rutherford AV (1984) The use of osmium-thiocarbohydrazide-osmium (OTO) and ferrocyanide-reduced osmium methods to enhance membrane contrast and preservation in cultured cells. J Histochem Cytochem 32:455–460

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Hall DH, Hartweig E, Nguyen KCQ. OTO fixation for SEM and blockface imaging. Wormatlas - anatomical methods. https://www.wormatlas.org/EMmethods/OTOFix.htm

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was partially funded by NSF grant MCB1614965 to MSO and UW2020 WARF Discovery award to M.H.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marisa S. Otegui .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this protocol

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this protocol

Czymmek, K. et al. (2020). Imaging Plant Cells by High-Pressure Freezing and Serial block-face scanning electron microscopy. In: Otegui, M. (eds) Plant Endosomes. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2177. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0767-1_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0767-1_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-0766-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-0767-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics