Ultrastructural Cytochemistry Applied to the Study of Virus Infection

Abstract

On the basis of the well-standardized techniques which are now generally employed in most laboratories, electron microscopy has reached such a high level of reproducibility in revealing cell fine structure that it seems hardly possible to explore much further the structural organization of cellular organisms. There exists a rigid frontier, resulting from the method of fixation in osmium tetroxide, embedding in water insoluble plastics and, in addition, the limit of resolution of the electron microscope which at its best may reach 8 Å. In spite of these limitations, a precise morphological basis has been given to cell biology in general, and to the study of virus infection in particular. Molecular dimensions have been reached in many cases. There is close convergence of the data obtained by direct observation and indirect measurements, in particular X-ray analysis. Unfortunately, the cell picture thus revealed is a static one, and until recently it was...