Includes traditional methods of preparing, sectioning, and staining materials, fluorescence cytochemistry and immunolocalization, molecular techniques of in situ hybridization, plastic techniques for light microscopy, and video and digital microscopy.
1. Quick Start; Paraffin Embedding; Paraffin Embedding - Microwave method; Glycol methacrylate embedding; Butyl/methyl methacrylate embedding; Steedman's wax embedding; Chromosome squashes; Hematoxylin staining - microwave technique; Kohler illumination; 2. Microscopy; History of the compound microscope; Principles of specimen illumination; 3. Chemical Fixation of Tissues; The quality of fixation; The mechanics of fixation; Coagulating Fixatives; Crosslinking Agents; Other fixation methods; Recommendations for fixing plant tissues; 4. Tissue Dehydration; General protocol; Dehydration using a graded dehydration series; Dehydration using chemical agents; 5. Infiltrating Tissues; Paraffin infiltrating; Paraffin and PEG Embedding; Polyethylene glycol and derivatives; Plastic infiltrating; 6. Sectioning and Mounting; Mounting blocks to microtome stubs; The quality of sectioning; The microtome knife; Setting up the microtome; Sectioning Methods; Mounting sections to glass slides; 7. Staining; Dye Chemistry; Staining equipment; General histological staining; Other microtechniques stains and protocols; Mounting the coverslip; Coverslip mounting media; 8. Alternate Methods of Microtomy; Free-hand Sections; Vibratome; Cryostat; Sliding microtome; 9. Special Methods; Clearing tissues with NaOH and chloral hydrate; Clearing tissues without removing cytoplasmic components; Macerating woody tissues; Macerating non-woody tissues; Bleaching tissues; Preserving color in whole mounted specimens; 10. Problem Solving; Tissue collection; Fixation; Tannins; Hard materials; Sliding microtome; Clearing; Dehydration, Infiltration, and Embedding; Microtomy; Hand sections; Staining; 11. Histochemistry and Cytochemistry; The relationship of the probe to the target; Cytochemical localization of cell components; Cytochemical localization of enzymes; Cytochemical Fluorescence Microscopy; 12. Localization of Molecular Targets; Immunolocalization; Tissue Printing; in situ hybridization; APPENDIX I: TOXICS; APPENDIX II: BUFFERS; APPENDIX III: COMMON CALCULATIONS; APPENDIX IV: MERCURY ARC LAMP; APPENDIX V: MANUFACTURERS AND VENDORS; APPENDIX VI: OPTICS; Properties of Light; General lens optics; The microscope objective; The microscope eyepiece; The condensor; Fluorescence microscopy; Microscopy light sources; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX
I am grateful to Steve Ruzin for assembling this incredibly useful collection of information in such a convenient and handy form. Plant Systematics & Evolution "an archive of expertise in the histochemistry field" Cell Biology International