Estimation of minimum electron dose necessary to resolve molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid by phase transmission electron microscopy

Abstract

The minimum electron dose that is necessary to resolve the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was estimated based on experimental measurements of information limits and simulated DNA images, considering conditions of a low electron dose. From these results, a dose of ∼400 e Å2 was found to be necessary to achieve observation of DNA on a molecular scale under the present experimental setup. A DNA molecule was observed by a phase reconstruction method using through-focus images under the limited electron dose. In the reconstructed images, the helical structure and the intervals of the base pairs of DNA were partially resolved. © 2006 American Institute of Physics.