Electron microscopy of synaptonemal complexes in semithin sections.

The technique of osmium tetroxide fixation followed by a treatment with p-phenylenediamine was applied to mouse testes in order to analyze pachytene nuclei. Observation of Epon semithin sections (0.25--0.5 micrometer) in conventional electron microscopy revealed the presence of positively stained synaptonemal complexes surrounded by unstained chromatin. The present results show that by using this method a suitable contrast and resolution can be achieved for semithin sections, which facilitates the topographical study of synaptonemal complexes.