Hematoxylin: A simple, multiple-use dye for chromosome analysis

A staining mixture of hematoxylin-iron alum combined with a strong hydrochl oric hydrolysis was successfully applied for chromosome observation of seve ral kinds of plants and some animals. Slightly different procedures were de veloped for different materials and objectives. For plant cells, the most i mportant technical aspect was the use of 5 N HCl hydrolysis, which resulted in a very transparent cytoplasm, combined with an intense, specific hemato xylin stain. This technique is recommended for cytogenetical analysis in ge neral, and it is especially indicated for practical classes, due to its sim plicity and high reproducibility of results. Moreover, the deep contrast ob served makes this technique very useful for sequential staining of cells pr eviously analyzed with other stains, as well as for materials with fixation problems.