2013 年 25 巻 1 号 p. 11-14
Plant cells contain several types of single-membrane-bound organelles. These organelles differ in function, size, and shape, as well as in their dynamics. High-pressure freezing and freeze-substitution (HPF-FS) is a method for preparing samples for transmission electron microscopic analysis that are now used widely in plant cell biology, but some technical hurdles remain. In this mini-review, I summarize the characteristics of plant organelles and the strengths and weaknesses of these sample preparation methods. HPF-FS is generally superior to chemical fixation in terms of preserving structural integrity, but HPF-FS is not ideal for large and watery organelles, such as the vacuole, as it distorts the membrane. Notably, organelles with complex shapes that are dynamic by nature, such as the Golgi apparatus, should be analyzed using HPF-FS, as there are clear differences in terms of the morphology of the Golgi apparatus when HPF-FS is used instead of conventional chemical fixation.
