Tecnai feg esem quanta 200

Glutaraldehyde-fixed ear samples were embedded in 1% agarose and cut into 500 μm sections with a Vibratome (Leica). Sections were then incubated overnight at 4°C in 2.5% glutaraldehyde, 0.1 M cacodylate buffer (pH 7.2), and post-fixed in 2% OsO4 in the same buffer. After serial dehydration, samples were dried at critical point and coated with platinum by standard procedures. Observations were made in a Tecnai FEG ESEM QUANTA 200 (FEI) and images processed by the SIS iTEM software (Olympus).

Whole bacterial cells were applied to glow discharged carbon‐coated Formvar copper grids. Bacterial cells were negatively stained with 4% ForMol. Observations were done on a Tecnai 10 (FEI) microscope coupled to a Veleta charge‐coupled device (CCD) camera (Olympus iTEM), and images were captured and analyzed using SIS Olympus iTEM software. Whole bacterial cells were applied to glow discharged carbon‐coated Formvar copper grids and negatively stained with 4% Uranyl acetate. Observations were done on a Tecnai 10 (FEI) transmission electron microscope coupled to a Veleta CCD camera (Olympus iTEM), and images were captured and analyzed using SIS Olympus iTEM software. For SEM, samples were fixed overnight at 4°C in glutaraldehyde 2.5%, 0.1 mol/L cacodylate buffer (pH 7.2), and postfixed in OsO₄ (2%) in the same buffer. After serial dehydration samples were dried at critical point and coated with platinum by standard procedures. Observations were made in a Tecnai FEG ESEM QUANTA 200 (FEI) and images were processed by SIS iTEM (Olympus) software.