ヨウ素染色によるエポキシ包理切片の光学顕微鏡的観察法

Abstract

電子顕微鏡の試料作製技術を光学顕微鏡の試料作製に応用し, これに新しい染色方法を併用することによって好結果を得た。その方法は, まず試料をエポキシ樹脂に包埋して約1μ厚の薄切片を作成し, ついでヨウ素によって染色をおこない光学顕微鏡で観察するというものである。本法の特色は, 薄切片のコントラスト増大のしくみが, 観察対象の組織そのものを染めるのではなくて, まわりのエポキシ樹脂を染めることによって組織を浮きだすという負染色的効果によることである。

A new staining method using iodine has been developed in the field of light microscopy. It was applied in the study of wood structure together with preparation techniques for electron microscopy. Thin sections for light microscopy are made according to the following procedure: i. e. small blocks of samples are embedded in epoxy resin, cut in the thickness range of 0.5 ~ 2 μm, with a glass knife using an ultramicrotome, picked up on glass slides and dried. The sections obtained are then stained with iodic reagents as shown in Table 1. This staining method is based on the fact that iodine preferentially stains the embedded epoxy resin without staining the objects to be observed, which is similar to the negative or background staining method for electron microscopy. Excellent contrast in light microscopy is thus provided resulting in a phase contrast appearance without the halo effects.