APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Feb. 1992, p. 773-776 Vol. 58, No. 2
0099-2240/92/020773-04$02.00/0
Copyright C 1992, American Society for Microbiology

Use of Inorganic Membrane Filters (Anopore) for Epifluorescence
and Scanning Electron Microscopy of Nanoplankton
and Picoplankton


CYNTHIA H. McKENZIE 1, ROBERT HELLEUR 2, AND DON DEIBEL 1

1 Ocean Sciences Centre, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland AlC 5S7, and
2 Department of Chemistry, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland AlB 3X7, Canada


Received 12 August 1991/Accepted 13 November 1991

Inorganic membrane filters (Anopore) were examined qualitatively by epifluorescence and scanning electron microscopy to determine their suitability for the study of nanoplankton and picoplankton. Compared with filters currently used, the Anopore filters allowed for increased resolution of the specimen with epifluorescence microscopy because of filter flatness and increased illumination caused by the large number of pores cm¬² . The inorganic filters had a lower filtration rate than polycarbonate filters. For scanning electron microscopy, the metal oxide (Anopore) filters were efficient support for the plankton, with little charging of cells or background.