Characteristics of RNA production in the body of the nucleolus studied by an analysis of serial electron microscopic radioautographs

: Electron microscopic radioautography was used to examine the changes in the density of silver grains over the serial sections of neurons of the fifth layer of the rat cortex after injection of 3H-uridine. In the majority of the neurons under study, the changes in the density of silver grains over the sections of nucleoli did not correlate with those in the density over the sections of the extranucleolar part of the nucleus. On the basis of these findings the conclusion is drawn that essential differences in the grain density in the neighbouring sections of the nucleolus are caused by non-uniformity of distribution of newly synthesized RNA in the nucleolus rather than by the errors of the method described. Possible reasons for such a non-uniformity are discussed.