Techniques and applications of three‐dimensional electron microscopy in entomological research

Abstract

Structural studies using two‐dimensional (2D) images show limitations in understanding the structure and functions of cellular organelle and protein. To overcome the difficulty, over the last few years 3D reconstruction techniques using electron microscopy have been developed at extremely high speed. In this paper, currently available 3D reconstruction techniques of electron microscopy (such as electron tomography, serial section analysis and single particle analysis) are introduced using our data as examples of the application. The 3D structure of mitochondria with the defect of mitochondrial protein in round worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, through electron tomography, the cell–cell interaction in lamina of Drosophila melanogaster by serial‐section using ultramicrotome and high‐voltage electron microscopy and a thin filament related to muscle contraction in Drosophila melanogaster were used for examples of the application. These results through 3D reconstruction reveal the structural changes in a cellular organelle and protein that had not been shown by 2D structure.

Current Status of Automatic Serial Sections for 3D Electron Microscopy

“…This ATUM is a system for automatically moving serial sections to a tape through a conveyor belt (Kasthuri et al, 2015). Each serial section collected on the tape has the advantage of specific staining, including immunostaining (Jung et al, 2016). With the global trend to boost brain research, the Korean Brain Research Institute (KBRI) also announced a five-year plan for the "High resolution brain map" in 2016.…”