MOUNTING POLLEN ON A THERMOPLASTIC ADHESIVE FOR SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY

A heat-sensitive adhesive, Tempfix(R), developed for scanning electron microscopy of powders and small particles, provides consistently high -quality secondary imaging with a variety of pollen grain morphologies and preparation protocols. Tempfix(R) was used successfully under all combinations of these conditions: (1) pollen air-dried from ETOH or a rtificially dried; (2) pollen transferred to naked or sputter-coated T empfix(R); and (3) pollen transferred to solid (at room temperature) o r tacky (40-43-degrees-C) Tempfix(R). In contrast to other adhesives, Tempfix(R): (1) does not react with the dehydration fluid ethanol; (2) permits control of depth of pollen penetration into the adhesive; (3) provides a high pollen retention rate with both air-dried and artific ially dried preparations; and (4) has a smooth glassy background.