Summary
Commercial aniline blue dyes are heterogeneous and variable. We have isolated and purified the fluorochrome from water soluble aniline blue. This fluorochrome fluoresces weakly with a maximum emission around 455 nm but the fluorescence is shifted to longer wavelengths (500–506 nm) when complexed with isolated β-1,3-glucans, cellulose or mixed-linked glucans. A similar intense fluorescence is observed in sieve plates, new cell walls and around pitfields in the presence of the fluorochrome. The fluorescence induced by the aniline blue fluorochrome does not specifically indicate the presence of β-1,3-glucans. Indeed most wall features are induced to fluoresce to some extent by the fluorochrome. However, fluorescence is modified by lignins and phenolics. Furthermore the intense fluorescence induced in the traditional “callose” sites, sieve plates, around pitfields and in new cell walls is probably related to localized differences in the structural packing of wall polymers.
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Smith, M.M., McCully, M.E. A critical evaluation of the specificity of aniline blue induced fluorescence. Protoplasma 95, 229–254 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01294453
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01294453