Question

Looking to verify answers for A and C and to provide an answer for B Which electron or non-fluorescence light microscopy technique would you use to study the following:

A) a. Surface features of a fruit fly head - I put SEM

B) The interior and exterior of surfaces of the plasma membrane (Hint: It is a procedure used in conjunction with Transmission Electron Microscopy.) - Maybe freeze fracture unsure? It needs to be coupled to TEM

C. Structures in living cells - I have phase contrast

Answer 1

A. SEM is the right answer as SEM specifically details about the surface features

B. TEM is used to study details about the interior and exterior surfaces of the plasma membrane. Specific stains are used in TEM to to visulaize polar head groups of phospholipids and hydrophobic fatty acid chains. Freeze fracture details about the macromolecular structure of the plasma membrane. EDAX equipped with TEM details about the elemental composition.

C. Phase contrast is the right answer.