Nature 212, 84 - 85 (01 October 1966); doi:10.1038/212084b0

Negative Staining with Osmium Tetroxide Vapour

PETER BARLAND & MARCOS ROJKIND

Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, New York.

NEGATIVE staining has become widely accepted as a means of visualizing macromolecular structures under the electron microscope^1,2. Its advantages lie in its simplicity and the high contrast which it offers. Many of the heavy metal salts used as negative stains, however, have not always proved satisfactory because of limited resolution and because of interaction with the specimen. In the course of studying the site of aldehydic groups in tropocollagen we developed a new method of negative staining. This gives delicate outlines of good contrast with macromolecular aggregates that are difficult to visualize with other techniques.

References

1.	Valentine, R. C., and Horne, R. W., in The Interpretation of Ultrastructure, Symp. Intern. Soc. Cell Biol., edit. by Harris, R. J. C., 1, 263 (Academic Press, New York, 1962).
2.	Pease, D. C., Histological Techniques for Electron Microscopy, 346 (Academic Press, New York, 1964).
3.	Gallop, P. M., Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 54, 507 (1955).