A Quantitative Estimation of the Uptake of Two New Electron Stains by the Cytoplasmic Membrane of Ram Sperm

Abstract

From microdensitometer measurements on electron micrographs of sectioned sperm heads it has been found that the electron stains, triiodobenzoyl chloride, and triiodophenylisocyanate, increase the image contrast of the cell membrane above its immediate background by about 40 per cent and 70 per cent respectively, while the nucleus remains unstained. Assumptions based on current electron scattering theory have been used to deduce the uptake by weight of the stains in terms of the density of the nucleus, which was estimated from complementary measurements made with the interference microscope and electron microscope. The uptake of the stains was found to be about 7 per cent and 12 per cent by weight respectively. It is suggested that the method used in this work could be applied generally for the density measurement of cell structures unresolved by the light microscope.