Light versus Electron Microscopy

The microscopic examination of a specimen is usually embarked upon with a clear aim in mind. It is the problem that should dictate the choice of method and the examination will often justify the use of a range of microscopy techniques. 

In very general terms, fight microscopes are cheaper than their electron counterparts, less expensive to run and there are almost no problems of adverse interactions between the specimen and the radiation used. In the fight 

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Ringsdorf, Sackmann, and coworkers characterized the behavior of mixtures of the polymerizable bis-dienoylammonium lipid 14 and DMPC [42]. Evidence for phase separation in these mixtures was obtained from electron microscopy and light scattering. Since the intensity of scattered light is dependent on the physical state of the membrane, plots of scattering intensity versus temperature exhibit inflections at phase transitions. This technique was used in conjunction... 

Phycobilisomes (PBsomes) constitute the light-harvesting antennae of cyanobacteria. Most of them are made up of a central three-cylinder core from which six rods radiate (1). However, exceptions have been described i) Synechococcus sp. PCC 6301 and 7942 have hemidiscoidal PBsomes, but the six rods radiate from a core made up of only two cylinders (2) ii) according to the observed ratio of rod phycobiliproteins (PB) versus core PBs, as well as to electron microscopy studies, Phormidium sp. PCC 7376 seems to have PBsomes resembling more closely the hemi-ellipsoidal tyjpt described for most of the rhodophytes (3) iii) finally, Gloeobacter violaceus, which does not have classical thylakoid membranes, harbors very peculiar rod-shaped PBsomes directly attached to the cytoplasmic membrane (4). 

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