Electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) of viruses using thin-section and immunolabelling preparations

Electron spectroscopic imaging (ESI) and conventional bright-field transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied comparatively for the analysis of the fine structure and the antigenic make-up of human immunodeficiency virus and two herpes viruses. In addition to the information obtained in conventional bright-field TEM, ESI leads to high-contrast imaging of ultrathin sections and improves the resolution of thin and thick sections, and allows a better detectability of the immunolabelling markers.