Introduction: electron microscopy for fungal cell ultrastructure
Ultrastructural morphology is a principal study for almost all natural science, i.e., an inevitable and fundamental study to elucidate structures, functions and differentiation of a given tissue, cell, or molecule as a most understandable visual form. The number of young scientists, however, who have been engaged in this field is very small recently, since this field appears to be too old when compared with modern molecular biology and it takes much longer time for the beginner to master the methology for electron microscopy (EM). This symposium is designed for these young scientists and molecular biologists or biochemists, who are not so familiar to ultrastructural morphology, to better understand the applicability of EM, through new results and findings in ultrastructures of fungal cells and related organisms. EM includes several kinds of methods, which are shadowing EM, negative staining EM, ultrathin section EM, scanning EM, freeze-fracture EM, immuno-EM and diverse methods for staining the specimen. Shadowing EM and negative staining EM are suitable methods for the study molecular structures of proteins, and the former is prepared by shadowing with platinum palladium in a vacuum chamber, and the latter is a method to observe a relief prepared by dipping the sample in phosphotungsten solution. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy is suitable for the study of membrane plane ultrastructures, since it reveals a wide planar view of the membrane by splitting it along the hydrophobic membrane internal plane. Immunoelectron microscopy is an essential method for the study of intracellular localization of proteinous molecules. These methods will be introduced. This symposium will introduce new findings as for fungal cells, bacteria and protozoa obtained principally by using electron microscopy. These findings obtained through ultrastructures may provided a renewed knowledge of research approach from view points of ultrastructure.
Kitajima
Y
Department of Dermatology, Gifu University School of Medicine 40 Tsukasamachi, Gifu City 500-8705, Japan.