X-Ray Microanalysis of Diffusible Elements in Plant Cells After Freeze-Drying, Pressure-Infiltration with Ether and Embedding in Plastic

Authors

E. Fritz, Forstbotanisches Institut der Universität Göttingen

Abstract

The technique of vacuum-pressure infiltration of freeze-dried plant tissues with diethyl ether and plastic, originally developed for the cellular localization of water-soluble ¹⁴C-assimilates, proved to be suitable for X-ray microanalysis of diffusible elements at the sub-cellular level. Apart from movements of elements caused by ice crystal formation and collapse of eutectic structures several lines of evidence suggest that additional dislocations of elements during the preparation were minimal: (1) Soluble Ca remained evenly distributed in vacuoles, (2) the contents of K relative to Ca were the same at different sites within a vacuole, (3) the relative vacuolar Ca-contents of different leaves, determined by X-ray microanalysis, corresponded to the relative Ca-contents of pressed saps of the same leaves as analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry.

Recommended Citation

Fritz, E. (1989) "X-Ray Microanalysis of Diffusible Elements in Plant Cells After Freeze-Drying, Pressure-Infiltration with Ether and Embedding in Plastic," Scanning Microscopy: Vol. 3: No. 2, Article 15.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/microscopy/vol3/iss2/15