1997 年 9 巻 1 号 p. 1-5
In our previous study, the plasma-polymerization rapid-freeze replica(PPRFR)method has been developed for observing biological specimens in a natural state and at high resolution by transmission electron microscopy(TEM)(Yamaguchi et al., 1997). In this method, more faithful three-dimensional ultrastructure is copied on the inner side of the replica film, and the replica film is amorphous in texture and hard enough to withstand against probe force of the tip. Therefore, it is expected to get even higher resolution of the specimen images if the PPRFR film is scanned on the specimen side by atomic force microscopy(AFM). In the present study, the PPRFR film of T4 bacteriophages were observed by AFM, and the images were compared with those obtained by TEM. Conventional metal freeze-replica of spores of a fungus Cladosporium sp. was also examined by AFM, and compared with TEM images. This is the first report that PPRFR was applied to AFM.
