A rapid single step staining technique for DNA analysis by flow microfluorimetry.

A new procedure is reported for the staining of DNA, for flow microfluorimetry. It allows the production of stained cell nuclei in a single step by incorporating the DNA stain with a solution of the nonionic detergent Triton-X-100. This method has been found to be applicable to all DNA fluorochromes tested (ethidium bromide, propidium iodide, mithramycin, DAPI, Hoechst 33342). DNA histograms obtained in this way are comparable to those using conventional staining techniques, e.g., ethanol fixation followed by staining. Using this procedure the DNA content distribution of solid tissue or cells from suspension or monolayer cultures can be generated in less than 5 min.