A new integrated concept for the improved preparation of sections of fresh or frozen tissue for light microscope histochemistry.

In order to obtain thin sections of plant tissues which combined good morphological preservation and the preservation of the substances and enzyme activities in the tissues, a concept of section preparation by external stabilization was developed. The main components are as follows: appropriate supporting medium; surface coating before each sectioning process, the coating being either non-permanent, permanent, or semi-permanent; suitable techniques for affixing the coated sections to the slides using either pressure-sensitive adhesive or solvent-based adhesive; and mounting media with defined refractive indices (preferably UV-curable, water-soluble monomers). By this approach, sections exhibiting excellent morphological and physiological preservation were obtained using either a cryostat at -30 degrees C or a rotary microtome at room temperature.