109      CELL STAINING WITH TRADITIONAL TURKISH MADDER ROOT.

CÜCER N¹, GÜLER N², ÝMAMQGLU N¹, DEMIRTAS H¹

¹Erciyes University, Medical Faculty, Medical Biology Department. Kayseri-TURKEY, ²Erciyes University, Veterinary Faculty, Pharmacology Department, Kayseri-TURKEY.

The madder root (Rubia tinctorum L) containing anthroquinones and other dyes is traditionally used in some regions of Turkey to stain wool and silk, the two different kinds of proteins. Present work was performed to examine if the cell proteins can be or how stained by the same or similar methods with the same dyes.

The natural dye sources were Madder root, Daisy, Corn cockle and Yellow weed.Ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium tartrate, urea, potassium aluminum sulfate and potassium dichromate were used as mordants. Distilled water, distilled water+ethanol, heptane and distilled water+methanol were used as solvents. All dye-mordant-solvent combinations were studied at pHs 2.4, 3.2 and 4.2. Only one dyebath was performed with a8.0 pH and the result was not succesfull. The generic staining procedure was performed by boiling 5-10 onion roots or stimulated human lymphocyte (SHL) preparations in dyebath, on a hot plate (100 C⁰).  Cells were examined at every half hour. For multicolor staining, madder dyed SHLs were decolorized, and were then stained with Giemsa Stain. AgNOR technique was performed following the decolorization of Giemsa stained SHLs. The preliminary sucessfull   results are illustrated by micrographs for both onion root cells and SHLs which were boiled for 3 hours, in a dyebath which included 4 gms of Madder root, 4 gms of ferrous sulfate as mordant, and 50 mls of 1:1(v/v) methanol: distilled water as solvent. The pH was adjusted to 4.2 with 6ml acetic acid.

We concluded that, madder root seems to have a potential to be an alternative dye for at least solid staining of biological materials.