Help:electron microscopy of adenovirus

[Dr R Marusyk]

In article <ECS9509070913A at utoronto.ca>, sophia.mittas at utoronto.ca (James
Campbell) wrote:

> I am trying to get clear micrographs of the fine fiber proteins which
extend from adenoviruses.

In a separate E-mail to Sophia, I suggested that she look at some of the
early references to adenovirus structure, i.e., references from mid-60s to
the early '70s when many beautiful EMs of adenoviruses were published.
Look for papers published by Erling Norrby or Goran Wadell (and me) from
the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. We used CsCl purified
adenovirus, usually drop- dialyzed against 1% ammonium acetate and then
stained with 2% sodium silicotungstate, pH 6.8. There was absolutely no
difficulty in visualizing and photographing the fibre component of every
adenovirus examined. Contrary to what was stated, HAd2 and HAd5 have
relatively long fibres (as does HAd31) that are easy to see. HAd3 has the
shortest fibre (8 nm), but it can still be clearly seen with proper
staining conditions. Non-human adenoviruses such as the canine, equine and
avian types have the longest fibres - in the range of 25 to 40 nm.

A note from a wisened old professor to new graduate students - try looking
at references older than 5 years! You will be surprised at what you will
find, and you often won't have to reinvent the wheel.

Ray Marusyk

-- 
Dr Raymond G Marusyk
Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology
University of Alberta
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
E-mail: raymond.marusyk at ualberta.ca