Application of scanning electron microscopy to the study of microorganisms in gastrointestinal pathobiology.

This review describes the application of SEM to the study of microorganisms in gastrointestinal (GI) pathobiology. SEM has proven to be a highly useful tool with a variety of applications in the biological and medical sciences. Examples in this paper are focused on the use of secondary electron imaging to study selected bacterial (cholera), fungal (candidosis), and protozoan (giardiasis) diseases in the GI tract of murine (mouse and rat) experimental models. The successful application of SEM to studies of microorganisms in GI pathobiology requires strict attention to optimal preparative techniques, to selection of the appropriate method and microenvironment(s) for study, and to awareness of the indigenous microorganisms characteristic of the system studied.