Electron Microscopy of Plant Cells
- It is important to be able to recognise various plant organelles from electron microscope images
- Chloroplast
- Has distinctive stacks of thylakoids
- Double membrane
- Has a roughly oval shape
- Larger than mitochondria
- Indicates the cell is a plant cell
- Nucleus
- Has a nuclear membrane and a dark nucleolus within
- It has a roughly spherical shape
- Vacuole
- Occupies a large space within a cell
- Often shows up as a very light shade (white) within an electron micrograph
- Indicates the cell is a plant cell
- Cell wall
- Located around the perimeter of the cell
- Mitochondria
- Roughly oval-shaped
- Double membrane
- Sometimes observed with visible cristae (foldings of the inner membrane)
- Chloroplast
TEM electron micrograph of a plant cell showing key features
