Chemical Drying: Biological Sample Preparation for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

Published: April 30, 2023

Abstract

Source: Koon, M. A., et al. Preparation of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Organisms Using Chemical Drying for Morphological Analysis in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). J. Vis. Exp. (2019).

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) is a powerful tool to image—primarily—the surface features of a biological sample. Proper sample preparation, however, is critical to obtaining quality images. This video focuses on the dehydration and drying steps of preparing intact adult Drosophila for SEM.

Protocol

This protocol is an excerpt from Koon et al., Preparation of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Organisms Using Chemical Drying for Morphological Analysis in Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), J. Vis. Exp. (2019). 1. Preparation and Fixation Prepare Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly). Anesthetize adult flies using 100% carbon dioxide. Place anesthetized adults (about 10 to 30 flies) in a small plastic screw cap vial or 1.5 mL cen…

Materials

Silver conductive adhesive 503 Electron Microscopy Sciences 12686-15
aluminum weighing dish Fisher Scientific 08-732-100
aluminum mounting stubs (12 mm) Electron Microscopy Sciences 75210
aluminum mounting stubs (25 mm) Electron Microscopy Sciences 75186
Adhesive tabs Electron Microscopy Sciences 76760
conductive carbon adhesive tabs Electron Microscopy Sciences 77825
Polyethylene glycol tert-octylphenyl ether (Triton X-100) VWR 97062-208
Hitachi 3400N-II SEM Hitachi https://www.hitachi-hightech.com/us/product_list/ The company doesn't appear to sell this model any longer

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Citer Cet Article
Chemical Drying: Biological Sample Preparation for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20111, doi: (2023).

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