Oolong tea and LR‐White resin: a new method of plant sample preparation for transmission electron microscopy

Abstract

Simplifying sample processing, shortening the sample preparation time, and adjusting procedures to suitable for new health and safety regulations, these issues are the current challenges which electron microscopic examinations need to face. In order to resolve these problems, new plant tissue sample processing protocols for transmission electron microscopy should be developed. In the present study, we chose the LR-White resin-assisted processing protocol for the ultrastructural observation of different types of plant tissues. Moreover, we explored Oolong tea extract (OTE) as a substitute for UA in staining ultrathin sections of plant samples. The results revealed that there was no significant difference between the OTE double staining method and the traditional double staining method. Furthermore, in some organelles, such as mitochondria in root cells of tomatoes and chloroplast in leaf cells of watermelons, the OTE double staining method achieved little better results than the traditional double staining method. Therefore, OTE demonstrated good potentials in replacing UA as a counterstain on ultrathin sections. In addition, sample preparation time was significantly shortened and simplified using LR-White resin. This novel protocol reduced the time for preparing plant samples, and hazardous reagents in traditional method (acetone and UA) were also replaced by less toxic ones (ethanol and OTE).

Histological processing of un-/cellularized thermosensitive electrospun scaffolds

“…Acrylic resin embedding is generally performed at temperatures of 60 °C or higher. However, embedding at room temperature is possible, as the medium is used for immunolabeling as well (He et al 2018 ; McDonald 2014 ). As this method is generally used for analysis of ultrastructures, cutting resulted in very thin sections (3 µm) of acrylic resin-embedded samples.…”

Determination of Flavonoid Compounds in Shanxi Aged Vinegars Based on Hydrophobic Deep Eutectic Solvent VALLME-HPLC Method: Assessment of the Environmental Impact of the Developed Method

“…Therefore, it is necessary to prepare samples before instrumental analysis [ 13 ]. Conventional sample preparation methods encompass solvent extraction [ 14 ], microwave-assisted extraction [ 15 ], ultrasonic-assisted extraction [ 16 , 17 ], supercritical extraction [ 18 , 19 ] and the resin method [ 20 ]. Traditional solvent extraction, though effective, involves the extensive use of organic solvents during extraction, leading to notable environmental concerns.…”