122. Brown, Jr. R. M. 1988. Use of Kodak
Tri-X pan film and Kodak T-Max 40 professional film in the recording
of lattice images of labile specimens with electron microscopy.
Tech Bits, Spring 1988, pp. 9-11.
122. Introduction
While the resolving capability of the electron
microscope has long been more than adequate to preserve detailed
molecular structure for a great number of materials, the major
limitation in achieving high resolution electron microscopy of
beam sensitive materials has been the lack of a recording medium
which will allow both high resolution and low dose. A typical
beam-sensitive biological material is cellulose. Cellulose consists
of -1, 4-linked glucan polymer chains which are arranged in a
crystalline state to form an insoluble submicroscopic rod-like
entity known as the microfibril (Figure 1). In 1964, Sugiyamo
et al. first succeeded in recording the lattice image of
cellulose microfibrils of Valonia macrophysa. Their
success was based on the use of a 200 KV electron microscope and
a high sensitivity electron micrography film. It was subsequently
shown by Revel (1985) that a conventional 120 KV accelerating
voltage is adequate for recording lattice images of Valonia
cellulose. In the search for a recording medium with sufficient
sensitivity and resolution to permit the imaging of the glucan
chain lattice of cellulose, we decided to try electron micrography
with several standard panchromatic films. Because our Philips
420 electron microscope was equipped with a 35 mm camera port,
it was easy to test a number of standard films. To our surprise,
we found that both KODAK TRI-X Pan Film and KODAK T-MAX 400 Professional
Film provide superior recordings of the glucan chain lattice of
cellulose from a variety of sources, in comparison with plate
film ordinarily used for electron micrography.