High voltage electron microscopy of cytoskeletal structures in whole plant cells

During the past decade, work on whole, critical-point dried animal cells has revealed a three-dimensional meshwork, the microtrabecular lattice or cytomatrix, which pervades the ground cytoplasm. This work was carried out on cells which could be spread out into thin layers on support films. Plant cells provide a more difficult problem since their rigid cell walls do not allow them to be spread into thin layers. Nevertheless high-voltage electron microscopy at up to 2.5 MeV permits examination of whole cells up to 30 μm thick, though both preparation and interpretation present problems. In algal cells flagellar roots and associated structures can be seen in three dimensions, while cells of mosses, ferns and lycopods show a cytomatrix of fine interconnecting filaments.