New staining technique for fungal-infected plant tissues

Abstract

The use of histological techniques, combined with the use of dyes, facilitates the visualisation of fungi present in tissues, allowing the details of plant-pathogen interactions in many different pathosystems to be revealed. The purpose of this study is to present a new double-staining method that uses cotton blue and safranin to identify fungal structures in plant tissues. With this staining method, the fungal hyphae stain blue and plant cell walls stain orange. The new method was tested on 2 pathosystems. The technique distinguishes between fungal and plant cell walls, giving it great practical utility. This is a staining technique that can be used routinely in laboratories and facilitates the creation of permanent slides. © TÜBİTAK.