Scientific MUE: acquisition of a MEV-FEG scanning electron microscope with serial imaging technology and volumetric reconstruction (Serial Block Face Imaging)

• Grant number: 22/11348-7
• Support Opportunities: Research Infrastructure Program - Scientific
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Leite Rodrigues de Oliveira
• Grantee: Alexandre Leite Rodrigues de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: André Rinaldo Senna Garraffoni ; Danilo Ciccone Miguel ; Eneida de Paula ; Marcelo Bispo de Jesus ; Maria Luiza Silveira Mello ; Paulo Mazzafera

Abstract

The present proposal aims at the acquisition of an instrument that employs the technology called serial block-face images (SBF). This is characterized by the use of a system that combines ultramicrotomy and in situ imaging of samples embedded in resin through an ultramicrotome included in the vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope, with field emission source (MEVFEG). While obtaining ultra-thin sections of the surface of the block, using a diamond knife, the newly exposed faces of the samples are continuously recorded using increasing voltages of acceleration, obtaining images homologous to those acquired in electron microscopy of transmission (TEM). The investigation of biological structures from a three-dimensional point of view, whether of organelles, at subcellular levels, or in the characterization of whole organisms, arouses great interest in the field of Life Sciences. The installation, in the Laboratory of Electronic Microscopy of the Institute of Biology - IB/Unicamp (LME-IB/Unicamp), of a Thermo Fisher Scientific - Volumescope 2 equipment, will represent an important advance, since this equipment represents the "state of the art" in "serial block-face" (SBF), allowing the acquisition of very high resolution images, in large spatial volumes, combined with relatively easy and fast sample preparation and instrumental operation. (AU)