3.1 Microscopy Cont.

This set explores various types of microscopy, including light, electron, and probe microscopes, as well as specimen preparation techniques like staining and fixation.

Light Microscopes

The most widely used type of microscope in teaching laboratories, capable of visualizing whole cells and organelles.

Electron Microscopes

Expensive devices requiring highly trained personnel and extensive sample preparation to visualize prokaryotic cells, viruses, macromolecules, and large atoms.

Probe Microscopes

The least used and most costly microscopy type, allowing for the visualization of 3D surfaces of macromolecules and atoms.

Bright Field Microscopy

A common light microscopy type used to count microorganisms or view stained specimens, resulting in a bright background with a clear or colored specimen.

Phase Contrast Microscopy

Microscopy that uses specialized condensers and objectives to amplify contrast without dyes, allowing specimens to remain alive for movement observation.

Dark Field Microscopy

Used for viewing living, unstained specimens by using a filter that reflects light by the organism, resulting in a bright specimen on a dark background.

Fluorescence Microscopy

The use of UV light to excite fluorophores or fluorescent molecules at different wavelengths to visualize specific cellular structures.

Aura Amino

A specific fluorescent dye used to treat clinical specimens to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis under UV light.

Immunofluorescence

A tool where antibodies are linked to fluorescent dyes to specifically target and visualize antigens on a particular pathogen or area in a cell.

Confocal Microscopy

Also called laser scanning microscopy, it uses a laser to focus on single planes to create thin slices that can be rendered into a 3D image by software.

Biofilms

Complex communities of microorganisms that naturally form layers, often visualized effectively using confocal microscopy.

Resolution capacity of Electron Microscopes

The capacity is less than $1\,nm$, with a magnification ability $200$ times better than light microscopes due to electron wavelengths of $0.001\,nm$.

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

A technique that produces a 3D view of the surface or shell of a specimen by reflecting an electron beam off samples treated with gold or palladium.

Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)

A method used to visualize internal 2D ultrastructures or substructures by passing an electron beam through very thin slices of a specimen.

Ultrastructures

Subcellular substructures that are only visible when using an electron microscope.

Simple Stains

Dyes used to increase contrast to allow for the identification of a microbe's shape, size, and arrangement.

Fixing

The process of adhering or attaching a specimen to a glass slide, which kills the sample and prevents the observation of motility.

Heat Fixation

A method where a slide is passed through a flame very quickly with the sample side up to attach the specimen.

Chemical Fixation

The use of substances like Paraformaldehyde, ethanol, or methanol for approximately $1\,minute$ to desiccate and stick an organism to a slide.

Wet Mount

A mounting procedure where a liquid drop containing a sample is placed on a slide with a cover slip to observe living cell motility and behavior.