Histological Detection of Aquatic Fungi by Uvitex 2B, a Fluorescent Dye

Abstract

Conventional staining methods for fungal detection are time consuming, technically demanding, and instable dye-affinity in different fungal species, especially in aquatic fungi. In this study, Uvitex 2B [4, 4-BIS (2-di (2-hydroxyethyl) -amino-4 - (3-sulfophenylamino) -1, 3, 5-triazine-6-ylamino) -stilbene-2, 2'-disulfonic acid, sodium salt] was applied to detect fungal elements in paraffin sections of some aquatic animals. As a result, it was found that Uvitex 2B was superior to Gomori's methenamine-silver nitrate Grocott's variation, periodic acid-Schiff reaction and Schmorl's method for staining aquatic fungi in tissue sections. In addition, Uvitex 2B required much shorter time and less specialized skills in the staining procedure than Grocott. Although it has been known that oomycete fungi are difficult to be detected in histopahological sections because of their unstable stainabilities with other staining methods, Uvitex 2B provided excellent results to detect them in tissues of aquatic animals.