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Practical Nuclear Staining Procedures for Rhizoctonialike Fungi. Leonard J. Herr, Professor, Department of Plant Pathology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster 44691; Phytopathology 69:958-961. Accepted for publication 21 March 1979. Copyright 1979 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-69-958.

An HCl-Giemsa staining procedure and two rapid direct staining methods were used to stain nuclei of multinucleate and binucleate Rhizoctonialike fungal isolates. Isolates were cultured on thin layers of Difco potato dextrose agar (DPDA) in plastic petri plates. Disks cut from the cultures were transported through the HCl-Giemsa staining process in tissue carrier mounts. Stained disks were mounted in dark corn syrup. The DPDA cultures also were stained directly in the plates with either 0.5% aniline blue or 0.05% trypan blue in lactophenol. In either case, the mycelium to be stained first was wetted with an acidified wetting agent to facilitate staining. Cover slips were added, and the stained hyphae were microscopically examined in the plates with a dry × 40 objective. Of the staining methods tried HCl-Giemsa consistently gave better results.