Nile blue (or Nile blue A) is a stain used in biology and histology. It may be used with live or fixed cells, and imparts a blue colour to cell nuclei.
It may also be used in conjunction with fluorescence microscopy to stain for the presence of polyhydroxybutyrate granules in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells. Boiling a solution of Nile blue with sulfuric acid produces Nile red (Nile blue oxazone).
It may also be used in conjunction with fluorescence microscopy to stain for the presence of polyhydroxybutyrate granules in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells. Boiling a solution of Nile blue with sulfuric acid produces Nile red (Nile blue oxazone).Nile blue (or Nile blue A) is a stain used in biology and histology. It may be used with live or fixed cells, and imparts a blue colour to cell nuclei.
It may also be used in conjunction with fluorescence microscopy to stain for the presence of polyhydroxybutyrate granules in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells. Boiling a solution of Nile blue with sulfuric acid produces Nile red (Nile blue oxazone).
Nile red and Nile blue are highly fluorescent and photostable organic dyes from the benzo[a]phenoxazine family. They have been used as histological stains for imaging lysosomes and lipids in vitro. The dyes’ high quantum yields and solvent-dependent optical properties make them ideal scaffolds for the development of pH probes and local polarity indicators.